1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,160 Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:21,440 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:25,440 Welcome to Family Sunday here. 10 00:00:25,730 --> 00:00:28,650 And we're going to be this morning in Romans chapter one. 11 00:00:28,650 --> 00:00:31,130 If you have your Bibles, turn there with me. 12 00:00:31,130 --> 00:00:32,290 Romans chapter one. 13 00:00:32,290 --> 00:00:35,090 We're going to start in verse number 26 this morning. 14 00:00:36,850 --> 00:00:40,690 And last week we looked at a passage of scripture that's a very 15 00:00:40,690 --> 00:00:43,610 difficult passage of scripture to go through because it essentially 16 00:00:43,610 --> 00:00:48,690 is describing what life is like without Christ, what the world 17 00:00:48,690 --> 00:00:51,250 is like without Christ, what culture is like without Christ. 18 00:00:51,610 --> 00:00:54,930 But I think it's important for us to understand this morning what 19 00:00:54,930 --> 00:00:59,010 it means to have Christ as our Savior and the need for him as our 20 00:00:59,010 --> 00:00:59,450 Savior. 21 00:00:59,930 --> 00:01:04,010 And here in Romans chapter one, Paul is essentially describing 22 00:01:04,330 --> 00:01:07,890 what it's like when God allows people to go after the things that 23 00:01:07,890 --> 00:01:08,330 they want. 24 00:01:08,970 --> 00:01:11,690 And a lot of times we think that that freedom is a good thing. 25 00:01:11,690 --> 00:01:14,770 But what we're seeing here this morning in this passage is that 26 00:01:14,770 --> 00:01:17,890 the freedom that God gives these people to sin and go the path 27 00:01:17,890 --> 00:01:21,000 that they're desiring to go is actually the judgment of God. 28 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,360 God says essentially this, if you want to chase after these things 29 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:27,440 and not trust in me and my truth, these are going to be the 30 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:28,680 things that you're going to be living with. 31 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,520 And the outcomes are going to be outcomes that you don't want to 32 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:32,600 have to deal with in your life. 33 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:35,800 And ultimately, it's the judgment of God that these folks 34 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:36,560 are going to face. 35 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:42,440 And so God gives the person in rebellion over to sin and the sins 36 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:43,320 that they desire. 37 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:46,600 And what we're going to see here this morning is the Bible tells 38 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:51,160 us that they exchanged the truth for a lie in their rebellion. 39 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:55,720 An individual in rebellion is exchanging the truth of God into 40 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,000 a lie and looking at the lies of this world and thinking that is 41 00:01:59,000 --> 00:01:59,640 their truth. 42 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:03,320 And so here In Romans, chapter 1, verse 26, it says this. 43 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:08,920 For this cause, God gave them up unto vile affections. 44 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:12,120 Well, if you're reading this passage of Scripture for the first 45 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:15,320 time and you're in verse 26, you might say, for what cause? 46 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:17,440 If he says for this cause, for what cause? 47 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,960 Well, you got to go back a few verses, and you can see in verse 48 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,880 number, well, if you go all the way to verse number 25, it says 49 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:28,640 who changed the truth into a lie and worship and serve the creature 50 00:02:28,640 --> 00:02:31,200 more than the Creator for what caused the. 51 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:33,120 The cause of this their rebellion. 52 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:37,600 The the cause of changing a truth into a lie, verse 23. 53 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,520 And change the glory of the uncorruptible God into the image 54 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:42,000 made like to the corruptible man. 55 00:02:43,030 --> 00:02:45,830 And so what we can see here in context is that he's saying, because 56 00:02:46,390 --> 00:02:49,990 of these people's decision to reject God, to rebel against God, 57 00:02:49,990 --> 00:02:53,590 to go their own way, this is why God is allowing this to happen. 58 00:02:53,910 --> 00:02:57,190 This is why these things are manifesting themselves in the life 59 00:02:57,190 --> 00:02:57,910 of these people. 60 00:02:58,390 --> 00:03:00,590 And so they exchanged the truth for a lie. 61 00:03:00,590 --> 00:03:04,070 And it says here, because of this, because of their rebellion, 62 00:03:04,310 --> 00:03:07,910 God gave them up unto vile affections. 63 00:03:08,780 --> 00:03:10,540 That word vile there means shameful. 64 00:03:11,500 --> 00:03:14,660 That word affections could also be looked at as passions. 65 00:03:14,660 --> 00:03:17,980 And so essentially what he's saying is this because of their rebellion, 66 00:03:17,980 --> 00:03:19,340 God is allowing them. 67 00:03:19,900 --> 00:03:20,420 He's. 68 00:03:20,420 --> 00:03:22,820 And by the way, anything that we have in our life is allowed by 69 00:03:22,820 --> 00:03:24,300 God because he's all powerful. 70 00:03:24,540 --> 00:03:27,220 And so what we see here is that God allows them or gives them 71 00:03:27,220 --> 00:03:29,820 over to their shameful passions. 72 00:03:30,860 --> 00:03:32,740 What type of passions are we talking about here? 73 00:03:32,740 --> 00:03:34,940 Now, by the way, I do know that this is Family Sunday. 74 00:03:35,710 --> 00:03:39,390 I do understand that sometimes in Scripture we can get to sensitive 75 00:03:39,390 --> 00:03:40,910 topics and sensitive issues. 76 00:03:41,230 --> 00:03:44,630 But I think it is all the more reason why we should speak boldly 77 00:03:44,630 --> 00:03:46,790 about these things in Scripture, because culture is telling 78 00:03:46,790 --> 00:03:48,270 us something completely opposite. 79 00:03:48,830 --> 00:03:51,230 Culture is telling us that what we're about to read here is 80 00:03:51,230 --> 00:03:54,990 not a sin, that it's a good thing, something that we should celebrate. 81 00:03:54,990 --> 00:03:57,190 And here this morning, what I want us to see from Scripture is 82 00:03:57,190 --> 00:03:57,470 this. 83 00:03:57,630 --> 00:03:59,070 This is the truth of God. 84 00:03:59,230 --> 00:04:01,070 This is not Pastor Josh's opinion. 85 00:04:01,870 --> 00:04:05,710 This is not something that I want to profess. 86 00:04:05,710 --> 00:04:08,470 But what the Bible says very clearly is that we must profess the 87 00:04:08,470 --> 00:04:11,310 truth of God in every situation, no matter how difficult 88 00:04:11,310 --> 00:04:14,750 it is, no matter how difficult our culture is pushing against this 89 00:04:14,750 --> 00:04:15,150 truth. 90 00:04:15,230 --> 00:04:17,990 And what we're going to see here this morning is that Paul actually 91 00:04:17,990 --> 00:04:21,070 was pushing against a culture that celebrated this lifestyle. 92 00:04:21,630 --> 00:04:24,070 Now, there's going to be a lot of sins that are listed here in Romans 93 00:04:24,070 --> 00:04:24,550 chapter one. 94 00:04:24,550 --> 00:04:29,120 But very clearly, Paul lists these first sins in a way that basically 95 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,600 describes that this is society without God. 96 00:04:32,840 --> 00:04:37,120 This is what characterizes society without God, within the rebellion 97 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:37,520 of God. 98 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:41,240 And it says here that he gave them over to their vile affections. 99 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:45,440 Really, it's this over to immorality and idolatry. 100 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,400 If you could describe what these vile affections are, it could 101 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:51,600 be lumped into immorality in many different ways. 102 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,280 We're going to talk about all those different actions of immorality 103 00:04:54,670 --> 00:04:56,030 that the Bible lists clearly here. 104 00:04:56,750 --> 00:04:58,990 Immorality and idolatry. 105 00:05:00,110 --> 00:05:02,510 Now, folks, I'm going to tell you here this morning that our culture 106 00:05:02,510 --> 00:05:06,110 today is defined by immorality and idolatry. 107 00:05:06,350 --> 00:05:09,470 We talked a little bit about this last week, but idolatry is not 108 00:05:09,470 --> 00:05:12,990 just a, a carved wooden idol. 109 00:05:13,470 --> 00:05:17,110 It's not just about having a gold instrument in our house that 110 00:05:17,110 --> 00:05:18,510 maybe we lift up things to. 111 00:05:18,910 --> 00:05:22,460 Idolatry is anything we put before Christ, any item, any, any 112 00:05:22,460 --> 00:05:25,380 person, anything, even ourselves, that is idolatry. 113 00:05:25,380 --> 00:05:28,020 If we put ourselves before Christ, that is idolatry. 114 00:05:28,020 --> 00:05:30,060 If we worship ourselves, that is idolatry. 115 00:05:30,300 --> 00:05:33,220 And so what Paul is saying is this, those who have given themselves 116 00:05:33,220 --> 00:05:37,140 up to this way, and ultimately God has given them up to this way, 117 00:05:37,140 --> 00:05:40,500 will be characterized by these vile affections of immorality and 118 00:05:40,500 --> 00:05:41,260 idolatry. 119 00:05:41,820 --> 00:05:44,580 Then he goes on to list a couple different sins here. 120 00:05:44,580 --> 00:05:47,950 He says this first and foremost, for even their women did 121 00:05:47,950 --> 00:05:52,630 exchange did to change the natural use into that which is against 122 00:05:52,870 --> 00:05:53,350 nature. 123 00:05:54,390 --> 00:05:57,670 Then he goes on to say in verse 27, and likewise also the men 124 00:05:57,830 --> 00:06:01,710 leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust, one 125 00:06:01,710 --> 00:06:05,870 toward another, men working, men with men working that which is 126 00:06:05,870 --> 00:06:09,790 unseemly or indecent, and receiving in themselves that recompense 127 00:06:09,790 --> 00:06:13,750 or payment of their heir which was meat or which was due to them. 128 00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:17,080 So if you don't understand what that's talking about there, 129 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:19,640 what he is describing is homosexuality and the relationship 130 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:21,360 between woman and woman and man and man. 131 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:24,720 And he says a culture that turns their back against God will 132 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,200 be characterized by this lifestyle. 133 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:30,440 Now, before we get started with this, I, I do want to let you 134 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:34,560 know that the Bible very clearly teaches that any relationship, 135 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:38,680 any romantic relationship outside of the bonds of a husband 136 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:42,250 and wife, man and woman in the bonds of marriage is a sin. 137 00:06:42,810 --> 00:06:46,170 But specifically in this case, he's talking about the sin of homosexuality. 138 00:06:46,250 --> 00:06:47,250 Matthew chapter 19. 139 00:06:47,250 --> 00:06:50,570 If, if you want to look at a passage of scripture to kind of contrast 140 00:06:50,570 --> 00:06:53,450 this passage of scripture or compare this passage of scripture, 141 00:06:53,610 --> 00:06:57,330 Matthew chapter 19, we actually see Jesus describing what 142 00:06:57,330 --> 00:06:58,330 is biblical marriage. 143 00:06:59,210 --> 00:07:02,970 The only romantic relationship that is supposed to happen specifically 144 00:07:02,970 --> 00:07:05,010 in, in the concept of, of sexuality. 145 00:07:05,010 --> 00:07:07,750 And so what we're going to see here is in Matthew chapter 19 is 146 00:07:07,750 --> 00:07:10,630 that Jesus says, hey, you want to know what the definition of marriage 147 00:07:10,630 --> 00:07:10,910 is? 148 00:07:11,070 --> 00:07:14,270 It was defined at the very beginning, and it stayed the same 149 00:07:14,270 --> 00:07:16,750 all the way till now and it will stay the same forever. 150 00:07:16,910 --> 00:07:23,790 In Matthew, chapter 19, verse number four, there is a push to Jesus 151 00:07:23,790 --> 00:07:27,430 about what is marriage, what is divorce, what is life, and what 152 00:07:27,430 --> 00:07:28,110 is how. 153 00:07:28,110 --> 00:07:30,270 How does that work in the grand scheme of their faith? 154 00:07:30,350 --> 00:07:34,870 And Jesus says in Matthew, chapter 19, verse 4, have ye not 155 00:07:34,870 --> 00:07:35,110 read. 156 00:07:35,110 --> 00:07:36,030 What is he referring to? 157 00:07:36,030 --> 00:07:37,430 He's referring to the book of Genesis. 158 00:07:37,590 --> 00:07:41,270 And he says, okay, have you not read in our own scriptures that 159 00:07:41,270 --> 00:07:45,590 he which made them at the beginning, made them male and female? 160 00:07:45,910 --> 00:07:48,950 And he stopped there male and female. 161 00:07:49,190 --> 00:07:53,630 Now, now I know that because of the way our culture is, some of 162 00:07:53,630 --> 00:07:56,110 you might be feeling a little uncomfortable right now because we've 163 00:07:56,110 --> 00:07:59,400 been told that there's more to that, but the Bible clear, clearly 164 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:03,000 defines is the way that God creates humanity is male and female. 165 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:04,240 Then he goes further with this. 166 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:09,600 And he said, Verse 5, for this cause shall a man leave father and 167 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:11,520 mother and shall cleave to his wife. 168 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:16,160 Man cleave to wife, and they twain, or those two shall be one 169 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:16,720 flesh. 170 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:18,160 He's speaking of marriage. 171 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:22,200 Wherefore they are no more twain, they're not two anymore, but 172 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:22,840 one flesh. 173 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:27,510 What therefore God had joined together, let not man put asunder. 174 00:08:27,830 --> 00:08:30,990 So the Bible very clearly teaches in the book of Genesis, throughout 175 00:08:30,990 --> 00:08:33,670 the Old Testament, into the New Testament, in the preachings 176 00:08:33,670 --> 00:08:37,110 of Jesus, Jesus reiterates what God has already defined, that 177 00:08:37,110 --> 00:08:41,789 marriage and sexuality is between a man and a woman in the 178 00:08:41,789 --> 00:08:42,630 bonds of marriage. 179 00:08:42,950 --> 00:08:45,790 And so when we look at our culture and culture says, hey, do 180 00:08:45,790 --> 00:08:46,590 whatever you want to do. 181 00:08:46,590 --> 00:08:49,190 Have freedom with that, be with whoever that you love. 182 00:08:49,190 --> 00:08:53,070 The Bible says that that is contrary to the teachings of God. 183 00:08:53,070 --> 00:08:57,110 And so what Paul is saying in verse 27 and, and verse 26 is that 184 00:08:57,190 --> 00:09:01,190 one characteristic of a society that is given over to their 185 00:09:01,190 --> 00:09:05,270 own vile affections is that they will have these types of relationships. 186 00:09:05,350 --> 00:09:09,310 It says in verse 26 that the women change the natural use into 187 00:09:09,310 --> 00:09:10,710 that which is against nature. 188 00:09:10,870 --> 00:09:13,710 It that that word against nature, that, that phrase there is 189 00:09:13,710 --> 00:09:13,990 ba. 190 00:09:13,990 --> 00:09:17,750 Basically saying this against growth or, or against fruitfulness. 191 00:09:18,150 --> 00:09:20,510 And, and so what the Bible says very clearly is that it's a 192 00:09:20,510 --> 00:09:21,350 selfish endeavor. 193 00:09:21,350 --> 00:09:25,420 Not about procreation, not about the way that God has designed 194 00:09:25,420 --> 00:09:27,820 it in a natural sense, but it's unnatural. 195 00:09:27,980 --> 00:09:30,220 These types of relationships are unnatural. 196 00:09:30,700 --> 00:09:31,900 They're unbiblical. 197 00:09:31,900 --> 00:09:33,660 And he says, and likewise also the men. 198 00:09:33,660 --> 00:09:34,860 So he doesn't leave out the men. 199 00:09:35,180 --> 00:09:38,500 And by the way, this would have been very controversial for 200 00:09:38,500 --> 00:09:39,180 Paul to preach. 201 00:09:39,180 --> 00:09:39,500 Why? 202 00:09:39,740 --> 00:09:42,260 Because if you know anything about who he's writing to, he's Writing 203 00:09:42,260 --> 00:09:43,500 to people there in Rome. 204 00:09:43,980 --> 00:09:44,540 Okay. 205 00:09:44,540 --> 00:09:49,480 And if any of you have studied Rome and the history of Rome, that 206 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:53,160 type of relationship, men and men, women and women, it was a very, 207 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:54,040 very common thing. 208 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:57,880 It was accepted in the culture and actually celebrated in that culture. 209 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:01,480 Leaders in that culture would proclaim that this was a good thing 210 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:03,240 and they would live it out publicly. 211 00:10:03,560 --> 00:10:07,800 And for the sake of tactfulness this morning, for the 212 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:10,560 sake of who's in the room, I won't go into any specific details 213 00:10:10,560 --> 00:10:12,640 of what would happen, but I would encourage you to look into 214 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:15,240 that because that helps us understand that Paul is not talking 215 00:10:15,610 --> 00:10:17,210 to a society that agrees with him. 216 00:10:17,850 --> 00:10:20,130 Because that's sometimes the, the misunderstanding here. 217 00:10:20,130 --> 00:10:22,570 Well, Paul is talking to a bunch of people that this would have 218 00:10:22,570 --> 00:10:24,170 been totally understandable. 219 00:10:24,330 --> 00:10:26,450 But, but we're in a society that's much different today. 220 00:10:26,450 --> 00:10:27,570 We, we're living differently. 221 00:10:27,570 --> 00:10:28,490 We're progressive. 222 00:10:28,730 --> 00:10:31,370 The truth is, is that there's nothing progressive about this lifestyle. 223 00:10:31,450 --> 00:10:33,690 The Bible says that this is against the will of God. 224 00:10:33,690 --> 00:10:35,090 This is against the word of God. 225 00:10:35,090 --> 00:10:38,570 And we're basically recycling sins that have been around for so, 226 00:10:38,570 --> 00:10:39,050 so long. 227 00:10:39,370 --> 00:10:42,020 And so what the Bible says very clearly here is that this, these 228 00:10:42,020 --> 00:10:46,100 men working that which is unseemly or indecent and receiving 229 00:10:46,100 --> 00:10:49,020 in themselves that recompense or that payment. 230 00:10:49,020 --> 00:10:52,940 So when individuals live this lifestyle, the Bible says that there 231 00:10:52,940 --> 00:10:55,460 will be a payment which is due to them. 232 00:10:55,460 --> 00:10:59,780 That's at the end of verse 27, receiving in themselves that recompense 233 00:10:59,780 --> 00:11:03,460 or outcome of their heir which was due or which was meat. 234 00:11:04,020 --> 00:11:08,200 And so Paul wrote this to a society that expected this lifestyle 235 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:09,160 to be happening. 236 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:13,680 And not only expecting this lifestyle, but really proclaiming 237 00:11:13,680 --> 00:11:15,840 this lifestyle, celebrating this lifestyle. 238 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:19,160 Now, we live in a world today that not only expects this to happen, 239 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:23,640 but actually celebrates these sins in many cases, in most cases 240 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:24,840 within our society. 241 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:26,680 So what do we do as Christians? 242 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,400 We just accept it, live with it? 243 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:32,920 Or do we proclaim the truth of God in the world that is so dark? 244 00:11:33,770 --> 00:11:37,810 Now I know that what we can do is in some cases go too far in this 245 00:11:37,810 --> 00:11:38,410 and say, you know what? 246 00:11:38,410 --> 00:11:40,330 I'm going to take judgment into my own hands. 247 00:11:41,050 --> 00:11:42,970 I'm going to start spreading hate against these people. 248 00:11:42,970 --> 00:11:45,890 No, the Bible says very clearly that anyone in these sins, 249 00:11:45,890 --> 00:11:48,570 we treat them with love, grace and respect and truth. 250 00:11:49,610 --> 00:11:52,290 And so here in this case, Paul is not saying for Christians to go 251 00:11:52,290 --> 00:11:55,050 out and be champions against anyone that's living in sin. 252 00:11:55,050 --> 00:11:56,970 All we do is proclaim the truth of God. 253 00:11:57,130 --> 00:12:00,750 We live clearly the truth of God our around those and Become those 254 00:12:00,750 --> 00:12:03,670 Christians who are the salt and light into a lost and dying world. 255 00:12:04,550 --> 00:12:07,470 But then we go further here because he doesn't just stop with 256 00:12:07,470 --> 00:12:11,350 homosexuality, he doesn't just stop with this type of relationship. 257 00:12:11,350 --> 00:12:14,510 He says, hey, there's going to be more sins that are manifested 258 00:12:14,510 --> 00:12:17,510 in the midst of this type of culture Without God. 259 00:12:18,470 --> 00:12:19,430 Verse 28. 260 00:12:20,150 --> 00:12:24,550 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, 261 00:12:24,860 --> 00:12:26,980 so, meaning they're forgetting about God, they don't want anything 262 00:12:26,980 --> 00:12:27,740 to do with God. 263 00:12:27,900 --> 00:12:30,900 This type of culture, this godless culture, doesn't want to 264 00:12:30,900 --> 00:12:31,860 know anything about God. 265 00:12:31,860 --> 00:12:32,060 Why? 266 00:12:32,060 --> 00:12:35,500 Because God basically is giving the parameters of what it 267 00:12:35,500 --> 00:12:36,500 means to live a righteous life. 268 00:12:36,500 --> 00:12:37,900 And no one wants to be told what to do. 269 00:12:38,060 --> 00:12:39,140 That that's what he's saying here. 270 00:12:39,140 --> 00:12:41,580 He says they don't want to have the knowledge of God because 271 00:12:41,580 --> 00:12:42,780 the knowledge of God brings what? 272 00:12:42,780 --> 00:12:43,420 Accountability. 273 00:12:44,380 --> 00:12:46,980 And a lot of times people don't come to God because they don't 274 00:12:46,980 --> 00:12:47,740 want accountability. 275 00:12:47,980 --> 00:12:50,060 I mean, you can watch YouTube videos of these. 276 00:12:50,060 --> 00:12:53,390 Because these high level atheists that hate anything to do 277 00:12:53,390 --> 00:12:57,230 with God and someone says to them, hey, if, if God came down and 278 00:12:57,230 --> 00:13:00,790 spoke to you directly, would you believe it's not a lack of evidence? 279 00:13:00,790 --> 00:13:03,190 They say, well, if he spoke to me, I'd probably believe it was a, 280 00:13:03,270 --> 00:13:06,710 it was a, a vision or, or I'm hallucinating or it's an alien. 281 00:13:06,710 --> 00:13:07,990 It's not really God, right? 282 00:13:07,990 --> 00:13:11,190 Because at the heart of it, many people that reject God, it's 283 00:13:11,190 --> 00:13:14,790 not a lack of evidence, it's a lack of desiring accountability within 284 00:13:14,790 --> 00:13:16,310 the bounds of the word of God. 285 00:13:16,860 --> 00:13:19,380 And so what we can see here is that even back in Romans chapter 286 00:13:19,380 --> 00:13:21,900 one, it says that the law of God is written on the hearts of man, 287 00:13:21,900 --> 00:13:23,500 therefore no one has an excuse. 288 00:13:23,580 --> 00:13:26,860 And so what happens is that in our culture we look out into the 289 00:13:26,860 --> 00:13:28,980 world, we see that there's something bigger than us. 290 00:13:28,980 --> 00:13:31,580 We understand that there's a creator, but we turn away from that. 291 00:13:31,580 --> 00:13:31,900 Why? 292 00:13:31,980 --> 00:13:33,580 Because we don't want the accountability. 293 00:13:33,580 --> 00:13:35,140 We don't want to be told what to do. 294 00:13:35,140 --> 00:13:36,700 And at the heart of it, it's pride. 295 00:13:36,780 --> 00:13:38,380 At the heart of it, it's selfishness. 296 00:13:38,540 --> 00:13:39,260 And it's this. 297 00:13:39,260 --> 00:13:41,020 I don't want anyone to tell me what to do. 298 00:13:41,180 --> 00:13:42,420 No one can change me. 299 00:13:42,420 --> 00:13:46,770 And so it says in verse 28, even as they did not like to retain 300 00:13:46,770 --> 00:13:52,730 in their knowledge the things of God, God, then what does he do? 301 00:13:53,530 --> 00:13:56,410 God gave them over to a reprobate mind. 302 00:13:57,930 --> 00:13:59,330 What's a reprobate mind? 303 00:13:59,330 --> 00:14:02,210 That word, reprobate essentially means Empty, worthless, 304 00:14:02,210 --> 00:14:02,890 no value. 305 00:14:03,850 --> 00:14:06,890 So what happens is, is that someone lives in rebellion to God. 306 00:14:07,450 --> 00:14:09,930 If someone rejects God and says, I don't want to think about 307 00:14:09,930 --> 00:14:12,810 God, I don't want to know the things of God, I certainly don't 308 00:14:12,810 --> 00:14:14,970 want to live the things of God, what does God do? 309 00:14:15,130 --> 00:14:16,690 We don't know when this happens. 310 00:14:16,690 --> 00:14:19,850 Okay, this is not my job to say, well, that person is at that 311 00:14:19,850 --> 00:14:21,370 point of being a reprobate. 312 00:14:22,250 --> 00:14:27,930 But ultimately God says here that he gives them over to this worthless, 313 00:14:28,170 --> 00:14:29,050 empty mind. 314 00:14:29,610 --> 00:14:33,490 He gives them over to the lies to do those things which are not 315 00:14:33,490 --> 00:14:34,010 convenient. 316 00:14:34,010 --> 00:14:37,250 Now, that word convenient here doesn't literally mean like a convenience 317 00:14:37,250 --> 00:14:37,450 store. 318 00:14:37,450 --> 00:14:38,130 You go in and out. 319 00:14:38,130 --> 00:14:41,140 He says not convenient basically means this should not be 320 00:14:41,140 --> 00:14:41,460 done. 321 00:14:42,500 --> 00:14:45,300 Essentially what he says is, is he gives them over to the things 322 00:14:45,300 --> 00:14:46,420 that they should not be doing. 323 00:14:47,620 --> 00:14:50,900 Humanity created in the image of God should not be doing these 324 00:14:50,900 --> 00:14:51,300 sins. 325 00:14:51,460 --> 00:14:53,020 This is not the way that God designed it. 326 00:14:53,020 --> 00:14:54,380 This is not the way that God ordained it. 327 00:14:54,380 --> 00:14:57,780 But because of our rebellion, because of our sin, because of our 328 00:14:57,780 --> 00:15:02,420 rejection, he has said, okay, you want that now I'll give you over 329 00:15:02,420 --> 00:15:06,100 to those things, those, those worthless things, those empty things. 330 00:15:06,530 --> 00:15:08,330 And in that, you're going to find the payment. 331 00:15:08,330 --> 00:15:10,050 And the payment is not something that you want. 332 00:15:10,130 --> 00:15:13,930 Ultimately, we know that it's going to be pain and suffering and 333 00:15:13,930 --> 00:15:16,850 hopelessness and ultimately judgment and separation from God. 334 00:15:18,210 --> 00:15:21,610 And so he says, hey, God is going to give them over to their 335 00:15:21,610 --> 00:15:23,490 empty minds, their reprobate minds. 336 00:15:23,490 --> 00:15:27,210 Now, a lot of times what we think about is God is only dealing 337 00:15:27,210 --> 00:15:28,370 with the things that we do. 338 00:15:28,850 --> 00:15:30,810 And certainly he does care about what we do. 339 00:15:30,810 --> 00:15:31,690 He mentions that right here. 340 00:15:31,690 --> 00:15:33,250 But he also cares about how we think. 341 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:34,560 And that's why we see it there. 342 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:36,080 It says, reprobate mind. 343 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:38,840 God is giving them over to their thoughts. 344 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:41,840 He's giving them over to those emptiness, worldliness, all those 345 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:44,440 thoughts that we look at and say are contrary to scripture. 346 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:47,240 God says, okay, you want to think that way, I'll let you think 347 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:47,560 that way. 348 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:49,520 And if you think that way, you're going to act this way. 349 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,720 Bible, the Bible very clearly teaches, and I'm going to go through 350 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:57,920 this many times throughout this year when we're looking at the 351 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:01,530 book of Romans, that God wants us to think properly about the word 352 00:16:01,530 --> 00:16:05,370 of God so that we believe properly, so that we act properly. 353 00:16:05,690 --> 00:16:09,290 God cares about our minds, he cares about our bodies. 354 00:16:09,450 --> 00:16:10,890 He cares about our actions. 355 00:16:10,970 --> 00:16:12,090 He cares about everything. 356 00:16:12,490 --> 00:16:13,890 What Does Romans chapter 12 say? 357 00:16:13,890 --> 00:16:14,970 We're getting ahead of ourselves. 358 00:16:15,370 --> 00:16:17,530 And, and we'll get to Romans chapter 12, eventually. 359 00:16:17,690 --> 00:16:19,290 But he says, renewing the mind. 360 00:16:20,490 --> 00:16:21,210 What are we doing? 361 00:16:21,210 --> 00:16:21,450 Why? 362 00:16:21,450 --> 00:16:22,530 Why are we renewing our mind? 363 00:16:22,530 --> 00:16:25,370 The Bible says, give your bodies a living sacrifice, your everything, 364 00:16:25,370 --> 00:16:26,370 a living sacrifice. 365 00:16:26,370 --> 00:16:28,770 God doesn't just want your Sunday mornings. 366 00:16:28,850 --> 00:16:31,290 God doesn't just want you when it makes sense. 367 00:16:31,290 --> 00:16:32,090 He wants everything. 368 00:16:32,090 --> 00:16:34,250 He wants your mind, he wants your heart, he wants your body. 369 00:16:34,250 --> 00:16:35,090 He wants everything. 370 00:16:35,730 --> 00:16:38,970 Now there was another teaching called Gnosticism, which basically 371 00:16:38,970 --> 00:16:43,050 said God doesn't care about really your body, just cares about 372 00:16:43,050 --> 00:16:45,810 your mind if you're thinking properly, if you have the right knowledge. 373 00:16:45,890 --> 00:16:48,090 And at the end of the day, God is concerned about what we think 374 00:16:48,090 --> 00:16:48,370 about. 375 00:16:48,370 --> 00:16:49,890 God is concerned about what we do. 376 00:16:49,890 --> 00:16:54,450 And in this case we see that verse 28 tells us that he is giving 377 00:16:54,450 --> 00:16:55,810 them over to that way. 378 00:16:56,570 --> 00:16:59,090 This is not where we want to be, this is not where our culture 379 00:16:59,090 --> 00:17:03,250 needs to be, because this is a godless culture that leads to sin 380 00:17:03,250 --> 00:17:03,930 and brokenness. 381 00:17:03,930 --> 00:17:06,410 And then he goes and he begins to list other sins. 382 00:17:06,970 --> 00:17:10,330 Lest you think that those sins that we listed already are the peak 383 00:17:10,330 --> 00:17:11,210 top sins. 384 00:17:11,770 --> 00:17:15,010 No, he says there's other sins that are characterized in this godless 385 00:17:15,010 --> 00:17:15,410 society. 386 00:17:15,410 --> 00:17:18,650 Verse 29, being filled with all unrighteousness. 387 00:17:19,930 --> 00:17:23,330 Obviously unrighteousness is just the opposite of God's righteousness. 388 00:17:23,330 --> 00:17:25,450 That's talked about earlier on in Romans chapter 1. 389 00:17:25,690 --> 00:17:27,890 The righteousness of God is found in Jesus Christ. 390 00:17:27,890 --> 00:17:30,450 And therefore, what does it mean to be righteous, to be like 391 00:17:30,450 --> 00:17:33,450 Christ, to walk like him, to walk in his word. 392 00:17:33,450 --> 00:17:36,530 But then he says here, hey, what does a reprobate society look 393 00:17:36,530 --> 00:17:36,690 like? 394 00:17:36,690 --> 00:17:38,329 What does a reprobate person look like? 395 00:17:38,410 --> 00:17:40,850 Being filled with all unrighteousness. 396 00:17:40,850 --> 00:17:43,770 And so there's this broad category of sin and rebellion. 397 00:17:44,170 --> 00:17:45,490 But then, then he goes on and he. 398 00:17:45,490 --> 00:17:46,890 And he says here, fornication. 399 00:17:48,660 --> 00:17:50,060 And, and so what is fornication? 400 00:17:50,060 --> 00:17:51,060 You hear that word a lot. 401 00:17:51,060 --> 00:17:54,500 Literally, that word fornication is, the Greek word, is 402 00:17:54,500 --> 00:17:57,860 porneia, which essentially it's any sexual sin outside the bonds 403 00:17:57,860 --> 00:17:59,140 of marriage, okay? 404 00:17:59,460 --> 00:18:02,620 And so it's not just what the sins were listed in verse 26 and 405 00:18:02,620 --> 00:18:03,140 27. 406 00:18:03,140 --> 00:18:06,100 It's any sin that we do with our bodies, with other people, outside 407 00:18:06,100 --> 00:18:06,620 of marriage. 408 00:18:06,620 --> 00:18:10,580 And so he says, hey, the society, the people will be characterized 409 00:18:10,580 --> 00:18:15,000 by fornication, by wickedness, by covetousness. 410 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:16,840 We know what covetousness is. 411 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:20,040 Covetousness is I want what that person has, but more than that, 412 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:20,640 I don't deserve. 413 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:22,720 I don't think that person deserves what they have, right? 414 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:24,080 I want what that person has. 415 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,600 And I want it so much that I'm willing to sin to get it. 416 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:27,720 Covetousness. 417 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:28,720 Maliciousness. 418 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:29,680 Maliciousness is. 419 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:33,560 I'm mad at someone, I hate someone, but I also want something 420 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:35,000 bad to happen to that person. 421 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:36,280 You've heard that word malice? 422 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:39,560 Malice is anger that wants harm to somebody. 423 00:18:40,330 --> 00:18:42,490 So he says the characteristics, characterization 424 00:18:42,490 --> 00:18:45,850 of a person in the reprobate mind would be a heart of malice, 425 00:18:46,090 --> 00:18:48,250 full of envy, murder. 426 00:18:49,370 --> 00:18:50,010 Debate. 427 00:18:50,090 --> 00:18:52,650 Now, by the way, debate is not a sin if you're having a debate. 428 00:18:52,650 --> 00:18:55,690 But really in this case, debating is talking about fighting, 429 00:18:56,090 --> 00:18:56,610 okay? 430 00:18:56,610 --> 00:18:58,090 Fighting with one another, verbally. 431 00:18:58,570 --> 00:19:02,410 Deceit, well, that's lies, a malignity. 432 00:19:02,490 --> 00:19:05,410 That's bad character going on. 433 00:19:05,410 --> 00:19:06,850 Verse 30, backbiters. 434 00:19:06,850 --> 00:19:08,970 That's someone who's slandering someone behind their back. 435 00:19:09,220 --> 00:19:09,980 Hater of God. 436 00:19:09,980 --> 00:19:10,900 Haters of God. 437 00:19:11,540 --> 00:19:12,500 Despiteful. 438 00:19:12,900 --> 00:19:14,420 That means that they're insulting people. 439 00:19:14,660 --> 00:19:15,100 Proud. 440 00:19:15,100 --> 00:19:16,100 They're full of pride. 441 00:19:16,180 --> 00:19:17,460 Boasters, they're bragging. 442 00:19:17,460 --> 00:19:20,420 Inventors of evil things disobedient to parents. 443 00:19:20,900 --> 00:19:22,300 That's why it's family Sunday, right? 444 00:19:22,300 --> 00:19:23,260 We have everyone in here. 445 00:19:23,260 --> 00:19:26,980 So, guys, I'm looking at my kids here, okay? 446 00:19:26,980 --> 00:19:32,060 A lot of times we have what we would consider to be unjustifiable 447 00:19:32,060 --> 00:19:32,500 sins. 448 00:19:33,140 --> 00:19:35,940 And then we have what we would consider within the church. 449 00:19:36,510 --> 00:19:40,550 Now, none of you say amen, but we have justifiable sin sins that 450 00:19:40,550 --> 00:19:41,630 we are comfortable with. 451 00:19:41,630 --> 00:19:41,990 Why? 452 00:19:41,990 --> 00:19:43,070 Because they're so common. 453 00:19:43,070 --> 00:19:44,430 How can that harm anybody? 454 00:19:45,150 --> 00:19:49,390 Now, I do want to be very clear in the eyes of God, sin, one 455 00:19:49,390 --> 00:19:50,870 sin makes me guilty of them all. 456 00:19:50,870 --> 00:19:52,350 Therefore I'm guilty before God. 457 00:19:52,430 --> 00:19:53,630 Therefore I need judgment. 458 00:19:53,790 --> 00:19:57,150 Not every sin has the same outcome in the. 459 00:19:57,150 --> 00:19:57,910 In the sight of God. 460 00:19:57,910 --> 00:19:59,470 Yes, for judgment, yes it does. 461 00:19:59,710 --> 00:20:03,390 But couple of different sins here might have different outcomes 462 00:20:03,390 --> 00:20:04,830 on the worldly sense of things. 463 00:20:05,250 --> 00:20:07,530 And so I'm not saying that all sins are equal in the things that 464 00:20:07,530 --> 00:20:10,490 we have to deal with in our lives, but all sins make us guilty 465 00:20:10,490 --> 00:20:11,170 before God. 466 00:20:11,250 --> 00:20:13,370 And so what we have to do within the church is we can't just 467 00:20:13,370 --> 00:20:16,330 pick and choose the ones that we really hate and then the other 468 00:20:16,330 --> 00:20:17,650 ones that we're really comfortable with. 469 00:20:18,450 --> 00:20:21,330 So, so I'm looking at my kids and the other kids in the room. 470 00:20:21,330 --> 00:20:24,170 We can't say that all these sins are bad, but then disobedient 471 00:20:24,170 --> 00:20:24,650 to parents. 472 00:20:24,650 --> 00:20:25,290 Well, you know what? 473 00:20:25,290 --> 00:20:27,650 I can do that because I have a lot of reason to be disobedient. 474 00:20:27,730 --> 00:20:28,370 Okay? 475 00:20:28,370 --> 00:20:28,690 So. 476 00:20:28,690 --> 00:20:30,770 So what we have to do is we have to look at this and we have 477 00:20:30,770 --> 00:20:35,370 to say, hey, all of these sins are products of a godless society 478 00:20:35,370 --> 00:20:36,570 rejecting God. 479 00:20:37,850 --> 00:20:43,450 So we Go further here, he says, disobedience of parents without 480 00:20:43,530 --> 00:20:44,370 understanding. 481 00:20:44,370 --> 00:20:45,450 What's foolishness? 482 00:20:46,250 --> 00:20:47,290 Foolishness is this. 483 00:20:47,290 --> 00:20:48,570 The Bible actually says this. 484 00:20:48,570 --> 00:20:51,290 The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. 485 00:20:51,770 --> 00:20:55,090 So to live a life outside of God is a life of foolishness. 486 00:20:55,090 --> 00:20:57,810 And by the way, it says earlier on in Romans chapter one 487 00:20:57,810 --> 00:21:01,030 that, hey, they profess themselves to be wise, verse 22, 488 00:21:01,190 --> 00:21:02,950 but they became fools. 489 00:21:03,830 --> 00:21:07,230 And so the Bible says that part of society is having a lot of 490 00:21:07,230 --> 00:21:11,430 knowledge, having a lot of worldly wisdom, but living foolishly, 491 00:21:11,430 --> 00:21:14,070 not applying that wisdom to our lives. 492 00:21:14,550 --> 00:21:17,270 And so he says, without understanding, covenant breakers, 493 00:21:18,710 --> 00:21:20,150 without natural affection. 494 00:21:20,310 --> 00:21:23,190 That means they're heartless, without, without love for others, 495 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:25,280 implacable. 496 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:29,120 And that's ruthless, unmerciful, not, not characterized 497 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:29,920 by mercy. 498 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:33,280 And so we list all these sins here and we say, well, you know what, 499 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:34,320 what is that all about? 500 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:35,280 What, what does that mean? 501 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:36,720 Well, essentially it means this. 502 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:41,560 We as Christians have an opportunity to proclaim the truth 503 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:44,960 against sin in the world and within the church. 504 00:21:45,120 --> 00:21:48,080 Now we're going back and, and I believe I missed one of those sins. 505 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,120 At the end of verse 29, it says, whisperers. 506 00:21:51,710 --> 00:21:53,870 Does that mean that when you whisper in church, you're sinning? 507 00:21:53,950 --> 00:21:55,670 When you're trying to tell someone, hey, what are we eating 508 00:21:55,670 --> 00:21:56,270 for lunch today? 509 00:21:57,790 --> 00:21:59,350 No, that doesn't mean that you're sinning. 510 00:21:59,350 --> 00:22:03,550 That idea of whispering is gossip, talking negatively about 511 00:22:03,550 --> 00:22:07,070 somebody, or you either lying about someone behind their back or 512 00:22:07,630 --> 00:22:09,750 you're saying something truthful about someone behind their 513 00:22:09,750 --> 00:22:11,470 back, but it's not something that's beneficial to them. 514 00:22:11,470 --> 00:22:12,670 It's not edifying to them. 515 00:22:13,470 --> 00:22:17,790 So talking about justifiable sins, hey, we even justify some of 516 00:22:17,790 --> 00:22:19,790 those sins with, like, spiritual ways. 517 00:22:20,140 --> 00:22:24,020 Hey, look, guys, have you heard about so and so in the church? 518 00:22:24,020 --> 00:22:25,900 I mean, they're really struggling with this. 519 00:22:26,300 --> 00:22:27,540 Let's, let's, let's pray for them. 520 00:22:27,540 --> 00:22:28,780 Look, the idea is this. 521 00:22:29,100 --> 00:22:30,180 We should pray for people. 522 00:22:30,180 --> 00:22:33,500 But when we are using opportunities of other people's sins 523 00:22:33,580 --> 00:22:36,860 and other people's failures as proclaiming their flaws around other 524 00:22:36,860 --> 00:22:39,700 people, that gets to a place where we can get very dangerously 525 00:22:39,700 --> 00:22:42,460 in that place of gossip, in that place of whispering. 526 00:22:42,940 --> 00:22:46,390 And so we go through all these sins and, and I would caution you 527 00:22:46,390 --> 00:22:50,270 to look at these sins and not just say, well, I struggle with this 528 00:22:50,270 --> 00:22:51,190 one, but not this one. 529 00:22:51,750 --> 00:22:54,390 Look at them from across the board from, from the very beginning. 530 00:22:54,550 --> 00:22:58,230 So from the sins that we saw in verse 26 and verse 27 with homosexuality 531 00:22:58,310 --> 00:23:02,150 to the sin there, and, and starting in, in verse number 29 with 532 00:23:02,150 --> 00:23:05,430 unrighteousness fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, 533 00:23:05,510 --> 00:23:10,070 envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, 534 00:23:10,070 --> 00:23:12,880 haters of God despiteful, proud, boasters and inventor of evil 535 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:16,160 things disobedient to parents, foolishness without understanding, 536 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:19,560 covenant breakers without natural affection, ruthlessness, 537 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:21,160 implacable, unmerciful. 538 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:22,720 All of these things we need to say, you know what? 539 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:24,320 None of that should stand in our midst. 540 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:26,440 We should never celebrate any of this. 541 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:28,680 We should never condone any of this. 542 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:31,000 We should never turn a blind eye to any of this. 543 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,560 We, we should never wink towards any of these sins. 544 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:37,120 Now, for some of us within the church, I, I know because I'm guilty 545 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:37,480 of this. 546 00:23:37,810 --> 00:23:42,210 I am very strong on some of these sins, specifically the ones 547 00:23:42,210 --> 00:23:43,330 that were listed first, right? 548 00:23:43,330 --> 00:23:44,610 Because we say, hey, you know what? 549 00:23:44,610 --> 00:23:47,530 I can't believe that person's living that lifestyle, that sin is 550 00:23:47,530 --> 00:23:48,210 an abomination. 551 00:23:48,530 --> 00:23:50,690 So therefore we're just going to turn our backs against them. 552 00:23:50,690 --> 00:23:53,050 Now, by the way, that's not the immediate reaction of someone 553 00:23:53,050 --> 00:23:54,049 who's living in sin. 554 00:23:54,370 --> 00:23:56,850 What's the best way to deal with someone who's living in sin? 555 00:23:56,850 --> 00:23:57,890 Tell them the truth. 556 00:23:58,370 --> 00:23:59,890 What is going to change their hearts. 557 00:24:00,610 --> 00:24:02,890 What is going to change an individual's heart when it comes 558 00:24:02,890 --> 00:24:04,560 to their life? 559 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:07,360 Well, if I just reject them and shun them. 560 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:08,160 No. 561 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,600 What is going to change an individual's heart to the point of 562 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:14,240 transformation is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 563 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:17,560 The only answer to any of the problems in Romans chapter one is 564 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:19,200 the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 565 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:20,880 And that's what Paul is trying to explain here. 566 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:21,920 How do we know that? 567 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:23,520 Go back to verse number 16. 568 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:24,560 What's the whole point? 569 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:26,320 What got him on this whole tangent? 570 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:26,920 By the way? 571 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:28,160 Paul got on tangents a lot. 572 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:30,020 Now, it was Holy Spirit tangents, okay? 573 00:24:30,020 --> 00:24:31,700 He allowed them to go on those tangents. 574 00:24:31,780 --> 00:24:32,700 But what do we see here? 575 00:24:32,700 --> 00:24:36,220 He says, for I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is 576 00:24:36,220 --> 00:24:39,820 the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe 577 00:24:39,820 --> 00:24:40,180 it. 578 00:24:41,620 --> 00:24:43,940 To the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 579 00:24:44,260 --> 00:24:46,780 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from 580 00:24:46,780 --> 00:24:47,500 faith to faith. 581 00:24:47,500 --> 00:24:49,460 As it is written, the just shall live by faith. 582 00:24:49,460 --> 00:24:54,500 And so we want to see society change to righteousness. 583 00:24:54,900 --> 00:24:57,780 If we want to see society turn their backs against these sins that 584 00:24:57,780 --> 00:24:58,500 are listed here. 585 00:24:58,870 --> 00:25:00,630 We don't say, hey, let them go. 586 00:25:01,110 --> 00:25:02,670 It's God's job to let them go. 587 00:25:02,670 --> 00:25:03,430 That's not our job. 588 00:25:03,430 --> 00:25:05,110 Our job is to proclaim the gospel. 589 00:25:05,190 --> 00:25:07,670 For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 590 00:25:07,830 --> 00:25:09,190 We want to see Delaware Change. 591 00:25:09,190 --> 00:25:10,870 If we want to see the United States change. 592 00:25:10,950 --> 00:25:15,750 If we want to see the world change, we need to profess and proclaim 593 00:25:15,910 --> 00:25:18,070 and champion the gospel of Jesus Christ. 594 00:25:18,550 --> 00:25:21,230 Hate is not going to change this, okay? 595 00:25:21,230 --> 00:25:23,270 It's not our job to hate somebody. 596 00:25:23,270 --> 00:25:25,550 Now, you've heard the statement, hate the sin and not the 597 00:25:25,550 --> 00:25:26,150 sinner, right? 598 00:25:26,470 --> 00:25:27,910 You understand the context with that? 599 00:25:28,150 --> 00:25:30,910 So we're not supposed to accept the sin, but we also are to 600 00:25:30,910 --> 00:25:32,350 look to that sinner and say, hey, you know what? 601 00:25:32,350 --> 00:25:34,150 The only thing that's going to change your life is the truth of 602 00:25:34,150 --> 00:25:34,790 Jesus Christ. 603 00:25:35,110 --> 00:25:39,350 And when we look at this, we see that the problem in verse 32 604 00:25:39,350 --> 00:25:39,830 is this. 605 00:25:40,070 --> 00:25:41,150 Look, look at it here with me. 606 00:25:41,150 --> 00:25:46,390 In verse 32 of Romans, of Romans, chapter 1, it says that these 607 00:25:46,390 --> 00:25:48,990 people who are living in rebellion, it says, who, knowing 608 00:25:48,990 --> 00:25:53,120 the judgment of God, Knowing the judgment of God. 609 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:58,200 Now, I, I, I don't know exactly if every single person understands 610 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:01,920 the full implication of what the judgment of God really is, but 611 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,120 what we do know is that many people are fighting against the conviction 612 00:26:05,120 --> 00:26:05,440 of God. 613 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:07,120 They're fighting against the truth of God. 614 00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:09,920 And so it says, who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which 615 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:13,280 commit such things are worthy of death? 616 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:18,900 So Paul says, you know, as Christians, that what a person deserves 617 00:26:19,540 --> 00:26:21,540 in their sin is death. 618 00:26:21,780 --> 00:26:23,860 For the wages of sin is death. 619 00:26:24,740 --> 00:26:27,300 We all need to kind of take a minute and understand that because 620 00:26:27,300 --> 00:26:30,220 all of us to some degree, have been characterized by some of these 621 00:26:30,220 --> 00:26:30,900 things in our life. 622 00:26:32,100 --> 00:26:32,980 Before Christ. 623 00:26:33,220 --> 00:26:36,020 Before Christ, you would say, well, I've never been an adulterer, 624 00:26:36,020 --> 00:26:36,580 pastor. 625 00:26:36,580 --> 00:26:37,780 I never would do that. 626 00:26:39,060 --> 00:26:40,980 What did Jesus say in the Sermon on the Mount? 627 00:26:41,940 --> 00:26:45,030 He says, not only do you sin with what you do, but you sin with 628 00:26:45,030 --> 00:26:45,790 what you think. 629 00:26:46,670 --> 00:26:49,750 So if we're guilty, if we're, we're all guilty before the eyes 630 00:26:49,750 --> 00:26:53,070 of God, before salvation, we are all guilty before the eyes of 631 00:26:53,070 --> 00:26:53,390 God. 632 00:26:53,390 --> 00:26:56,030 Then we come to Christ and then we escape that judgment. 633 00:26:56,030 --> 00:26:57,430 That's what Paul's already been talking about. 634 00:26:57,430 --> 00:26:59,870 He says, we escape the judgment of God, and now we have 635 00:26:59,870 --> 00:27:00,990 the righteousness of God. 636 00:27:00,990 --> 00:27:02,190 Now we have the salvation. 637 00:27:02,270 --> 00:27:06,190 So we have to understand that all of us, all of us in this room, 638 00:27:06,830 --> 00:27:14,240 if you have a pulse, if you're breathing, okay, you are either in 639 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:15,000 two camps. 640 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:19,240 You're either a sinner that has not been saved by grace, or you're 641 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:21,360 someone who has had sin in your life and you have been saved 642 00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:22,920 by grace, okay? 643 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:24,920 And the idea for that this morning is this. 644 00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:27,760 Sometimes we can get on our spiritual high horse and say, you 645 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:30,280 know, What, I'm saved and I'm better? 646 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:33,320 The truth is that the only reason why we have any good standing 647 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:35,640 before God is because of the grace of Jesus Christ and the blood 648 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:36,360 of Jesus Christ. 649 00:27:36,910 --> 00:27:38,870 And so what we have to understand this morning is that we 650 00:27:38,870 --> 00:27:41,910 don't look at Romans chapter one and go, these degenerates. 651 00:27:41,910 --> 00:27:43,470 And they're never going to get right. 652 00:27:43,630 --> 00:27:46,710 Ultimately, what we have to understand as Christians is that, 653 00:27:46,710 --> 00:27:50,430 yes, God will give them over to a reprobate mind, but that is, 654 00:27:50,430 --> 00:27:51,190 that is not our job. 655 00:27:51,190 --> 00:27:53,630 It doesn't say, Christians give them over to reprobate minds. 656 00:27:53,630 --> 00:27:57,230 Our job is to say we need to go and we need to proclaim and we 657 00:27:57,230 --> 00:27:59,190 need to love in the truth of God. 658 00:27:59,190 --> 00:28:00,310 And by the way, I need. 659 00:28:00,310 --> 00:28:02,170 I need to explain love today. 660 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:03,160 Today, because we're. 661 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:05,200 We're in a society today that love means this. 662 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:07,600 First of all, love is always tied to romanticism. 663 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:12,520 In our society today, that's not the biblical definition of Christian 664 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:12,760 love. 665 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:14,600 Agape love, okay? 666 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:17,600 Agape is sacrificial love that has nothing to do with romance. 667 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:21,440 There's another whole term in the Bible for that, okay? 668 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:24,600 And by the way, romantic love is a good thing inside the bonds 669 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:26,000 of marriage between a man and a woman. 670 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:27,360 God created that. 671 00:28:27,850 --> 00:28:31,170 But you see what Satan does, over throughout all of history, what 672 00:28:31,170 --> 00:28:35,370 Satan does is he takes what God has created as good and he twists 673 00:28:35,370 --> 00:28:37,210 it and he perverts it to something evil. 674 00:28:38,170 --> 00:28:40,530 So, so when we're talking about love, okay, we have different 675 00:28:40,530 --> 00:28:41,490 types of love in the Bible. 676 00:28:41,490 --> 00:28:43,650 There's brotherly love, there's romantic love, and there's 677 00:28:43,650 --> 00:28:44,650 agape love. 678 00:28:45,130 --> 00:28:46,650 That's that sacrificial love. 679 00:28:47,450 --> 00:28:50,050 So in the case of romantic love, what the Bible says is that 680 00:28:50,050 --> 00:28:52,970 there is a beautiful thing in that, and that is between a man and 681 00:28:52,970 --> 00:28:54,830 a woman in marriage, okay? 682 00:28:54,910 --> 00:28:57,550 But what Satan does is he says, okay, God, you've created that. 683 00:28:57,550 --> 00:28:58,830 But now I want to twist that. 684 00:28:58,830 --> 00:29:01,630 And I want everything else outside of that to be really what 685 00:29:01,630 --> 00:29:03,630 the world is preaching love is all about. 686 00:29:04,670 --> 00:29:06,750 The Bible says that that is what Satan does. 687 00:29:06,750 --> 00:29:08,990 He's not a creator, he's a distorter. 688 00:29:09,310 --> 00:29:10,269 He is a twister. 689 00:29:10,270 --> 00:29:11,310 He's a deceiver. 690 00:29:11,710 --> 00:29:13,430 Think about everything good that God has created. 691 00:29:13,430 --> 00:29:16,550 Satan has tried to twist it and move it away from the truth of 692 00:29:16,550 --> 00:29:16,910 God. 693 00:29:17,150 --> 00:29:19,950 And so what we can see here is there's that romantic love, but we 694 00:29:19,950 --> 00:29:23,160 also know that there is the agape love that we all talk about 695 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:23,680 in scripture. 696 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,360 And that's the type of love we're to have to those around us. 697 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:31,320 Agape love does not mean that I celebrate everybody's sin. 698 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,240 Agape love does not mean that I accept everybody's sin. 699 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:37,080 Agape love means I'm going to sacrifice for that person, even if 700 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:38,440 they don't bring anything back to me. 701 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:41,240 So if I love someone enough, what am I gonna do? 702 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:44,880 Not accept their wrong, but help them in their wrong right. 703 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:47,000 Because I use this example of my children. 704 00:29:47,940 --> 00:29:50,260 If my children are going down the wrong path, I don't look at them 705 00:29:50,260 --> 00:29:52,300 and go, well, I love them so much, I'm just gonna let them keep 706 00:29:52,300 --> 00:29:55,140 going down that path of sin and destruction. 707 00:29:55,780 --> 00:29:58,100 No, I'm doing everything I possibly can to tell them the truth 708 00:29:58,100 --> 00:30:00,020 in love so that I can protect them from that. 709 00:30:00,340 --> 00:30:02,500 It's the same type of love that we're supposed to have for our 710 00:30:02,500 --> 00:30:02,980 society. 711 00:30:03,220 --> 00:30:05,700 It's loving them, but loving them enough to tell them the truth 712 00:30:05,700 --> 00:30:07,540 about the truth of God. 713 00:30:08,020 --> 00:30:10,260 And so what we have to understand is that in our society 714 00:30:10,260 --> 00:30:13,300 today, you are not a bigot, you are not evil. 715 00:30:13,770 --> 00:30:17,010 If you look at a type of lifestyle and say, that is a wrong 716 00:30:17,010 --> 00:30:17,450 lifestyle. 717 00:30:17,450 --> 00:30:20,810 I can love that person and I can show that person grace, and I 718 00:30:20,810 --> 00:30:23,010 can show that person forgiveness, and I can show that 719 00:30:23,010 --> 00:30:24,010 person all of these things. 720 00:30:24,010 --> 00:30:27,570 But I cannot look at that element of sin, whatever sin that 721 00:30:27,570 --> 00:30:29,450 might be, and say, I celebrate that. 722 00:30:29,930 --> 00:30:31,290 I exalt that sin. 723 00:30:31,450 --> 00:30:33,210 Because at the heart of that is pride. 724 00:30:33,770 --> 00:30:35,650 The heart of that is we all want to be told that we're doing 725 00:30:35,650 --> 00:30:37,930 the right thing, even if we're not doing the right thing. 726 00:30:37,930 --> 00:30:40,010 I had a conversation in our Bible study this morning. 727 00:30:40,860 --> 00:30:43,540 There's enough information out there on the Internet today that 728 00:30:43,540 --> 00:30:45,980 you can find anyone who believes the same thing as you. 729 00:30:46,620 --> 00:30:49,980 You can find a Christian who talks about your sin and celebrates 730 00:30:49,980 --> 00:30:50,540 that sin. 731 00:30:50,940 --> 00:30:54,580 So all of us in our flesh want someone to proclaim that sin that 732 00:30:54,580 --> 00:30:57,020 we're doing as okay, that's our flesh. 733 00:30:57,500 --> 00:30:59,580 Now, the Spirit tells us opposite of that. 734 00:30:59,740 --> 00:31:02,140 But what I'm saying here this morning is that what we have to understand 735 00:31:02,460 --> 00:31:04,980 is that the celebration of sin is. 736 00:31:04,980 --> 00:31:06,380 Is wrong for the church. 737 00:31:07,190 --> 00:31:08,630 It's destructive for the church. 738 00:31:09,030 --> 00:31:12,030 Look at it there with me in verse 32, who, knowing the judgment 739 00:31:12,030 --> 00:31:12,470 of God. 740 00:31:12,470 --> 00:31:15,910 So, meaning this, Christians understand the judgment of God, understand 741 00:31:15,910 --> 00:31:18,430 that we all deserve that judgment, that they which commit 742 00:31:18,430 --> 00:31:21,510 such things are worthy of death, not only do the same. 743 00:31:22,070 --> 00:31:24,950 Meaning this, he says, these people that are facing judgment, 744 00:31:24,950 --> 00:31:28,590 not only do they join in with these sins, they're characterized 745 00:31:28,590 --> 00:31:31,910 by these sins, but here it is, but have pleasure in them. 746 00:31:31,910 --> 00:31:33,350 That do them, meaning this. 747 00:31:34,930 --> 00:31:40,170 A person who is in sin is guilty, but also they're guilty because 748 00:31:40,170 --> 00:31:41,770 it says that they have pleasure in them. 749 00:31:41,770 --> 00:31:43,570 That do them, meaning basically this. 750 00:31:43,570 --> 00:31:46,610 They're approving and celebrating that sin in that society. 751 00:31:47,410 --> 00:31:48,130 And so what I. 752 00:31:48,130 --> 00:31:50,610 I caution us as the church this morning is this. 753 00:31:51,010 --> 00:31:52,050 There is a. 754 00:31:52,290 --> 00:31:55,690 What we would say maybe is a fine line or a clear line, whatever 755 00:31:55,690 --> 00:31:56,450 you want to call it. 756 00:31:56,850 --> 00:32:02,260 There's a line between being in the world and understanding the 757 00:32:02,260 --> 00:32:05,260 world that we live in and understanding the things that we're 758 00:32:05,260 --> 00:32:09,540 fighting against and then supporting it, loving it, and condoning 759 00:32:09,540 --> 00:32:10,500 it, and approving it. 760 00:32:10,500 --> 00:32:13,580 Okay, I can understand that an unsaved person is going to act like 761 00:32:13,580 --> 00:32:16,980 an unsaved person because we all have to understand that an unsaved 762 00:32:16,980 --> 00:32:18,460 person is not going to act like a Christian. 763 00:32:18,860 --> 00:32:21,500 But at the same time, I don't need to look at that person and say, 764 00:32:21,500 --> 00:32:24,500 well, they must be a good person because they're acting like 765 00:32:24,500 --> 00:32:25,180 their nature. 766 00:32:25,180 --> 00:32:26,300 So I'm just going to let it go. 767 00:32:26,300 --> 00:32:28,600 What we have to do is we have to proclaim the truth of God to them 768 00:32:28,670 --> 00:32:28,910 time. 769 00:32:29,230 --> 00:32:32,150 We have to demonstrate the truth of God because the Bible says 770 00:32:32,150 --> 00:32:34,790 that we are to live our lives as Christians, not only by word, 771 00:32:34,790 --> 00:32:36,350 but by deed as well. 772 00:32:36,830 --> 00:32:39,870 And to reach people for the cause of the gospel means to teach 773 00:32:39,870 --> 00:32:43,230 the gospel, to preach the gospel, but also to live the gospel. 774 00:32:44,110 --> 00:32:47,950 And so what we can see all of verse 26, and actually before verse 775 00:32:47,950 --> 00:32:53,670 26, really, verse 23 and on, we can see that this is a characteristic 776 00:32:53,670 --> 00:32:57,800 of a society, a characteristic of a group of people, a characteristic 777 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:00,960 of an individual that abandons the truth of God. 778 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:04,680 If our country, if our culture, if. 779 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:09,280 If our family, if our church abandons the word of God, this is 780 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:10,400 the product of that. 781 00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:13,320 And what we can see here is that the only thing that's going 782 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:15,880 to change the hearts of man is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit 783 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:18,880 and the transformative power that the Holy Spirit has in our life. 784 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:21,280 And then the Holy Spirit leads us to all truth. 785 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:23,200 And all truth is found in the Word of God. 786 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:24,400 Sanctify them by thy truth. 787 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:25,400 That word is truth. 788 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:26,680 And what we do is this. 789 00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:29,840 If I'm living guided by the Spirit, I'm living guided by the 790 00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:30,160 Word. 791 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:33,520 And so if the Word of God says something clearly, I obey that and 792 00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:34,200 I trust in that. 793 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:37,240 Even if I don't understand it, even if I don't even in my flesh 794 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:39,160 agree with it, I have to say, you know what? 795 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:40,480 This is what the Word of God says. 796 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:42,280 If the Holy Spirit is leading me into truth. 797 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:43,640 The truth is the word of God. 798 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:45,640 Therefore, the word of God is my guide. 799 00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:50,180 If this is just a good book, if this is just one of the many books 800 00:33:50,180 --> 00:33:53,180 that you adhere to in your life, what we can do is we can say, 801 00:33:53,180 --> 00:33:53,700 you know what? 802 00:33:53,780 --> 00:33:54,620 I don't have another book. 803 00:33:54,620 --> 00:33:56,580 Let's say this little pamphlet here is another book. 804 00:33:57,060 --> 00:34:01,220 I like this book more than this book in this area, so I'm going 805 00:34:01,220 --> 00:34:03,220 to go with this one, okay? 806 00:34:04,580 --> 00:34:08,060 Or this book is good, but you have to add this book onto this book 807 00:34:08,060 --> 00:34:09,980 to make it make sense, folks. 808 00:34:09,980 --> 00:34:13,620 All we need is the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the word of God. 809 00:34:14,110 --> 00:34:14,750 That's it. 810 00:34:14,990 --> 00:34:17,830 And so when we talk about things in our culture that are hard 811 00:34:17,830 --> 00:34:22,470 to talk about, so, for example, homosexuality, okay, we're 812 00:34:22,470 --> 00:34:26,070 talking about the gender identity crisis that we live in in 813 00:34:26,070 --> 00:34:28,990 our world today, orientation, whatever it is. 814 00:34:30,270 --> 00:34:32,590 And sometimes we pick on those sins, but those are sins that are 815 00:34:32,590 --> 00:34:35,070 very public, and so it's okay to talk about those. 816 00:34:35,150 --> 00:34:39,150 There's other sins, though, like, for example, gossip, deceit, 817 00:34:40,230 --> 00:34:42,990 inventors of evil things, backbiters, pride. 818 00:34:42,990 --> 00:34:43,670 Okay, we. 819 00:34:43,670 --> 00:34:45,510 We could sit here and talk about any of these sins. 820 00:34:45,510 --> 00:34:48,310 What we do is we don't say, well, culture tells us this. 821 00:34:49,350 --> 00:34:54,750 So, so we, we've got to figure out how to fit the Bible into the 822 00:34:54,750 --> 00:34:57,470 culture and the culture into the Bible and kind of make it make 823 00:34:57,470 --> 00:34:57,830 sense. 824 00:34:57,910 --> 00:34:59,750 No, folks, that's not what it's all about. 825 00:35:00,150 --> 00:35:04,230 What it's all about is saying, how does the Bible affect my heart 826 00:35:04,390 --> 00:35:05,190 in this society? 827 00:35:05,190 --> 00:35:06,350 And the Bible doesn't change. 828 00:35:06,350 --> 00:35:07,430 The Bible says that it's. 829 00:35:07,660 --> 00:35:08,780 It's everlasting. 830 00:35:09,100 --> 00:35:11,780 And so, like, I think so many times in my life, it was this. 831 00:35:11,780 --> 00:35:15,100 I heard this before, and I even to some degree bought into it 832 00:35:15,100 --> 00:35:15,620 for a little bit. 833 00:35:15,620 --> 00:35:18,420 It's like, well, all these things in the Bible are older. 834 00:35:18,420 --> 00:35:21,940 And so we live in a different culture today, and we have to kind 835 00:35:21,940 --> 00:35:24,820 of reach our culture in the way that the culture needs to be 836 00:35:24,820 --> 00:35:25,660 reached, folks. 837 00:35:25,740 --> 00:35:28,820 By the way, yes, the Roman culture, I mean, I don't think they 838 00:35:28,820 --> 00:35:29,780 had iPhones back then. 839 00:35:29,780 --> 00:35:31,420 I mean, most of us would agree to that. 840 00:35:31,660 --> 00:35:33,780 Some people believe in, like, ancient tech and all that. 841 00:35:33,780 --> 00:35:35,260 We're not going to get down that rabbit trail. 842 00:35:35,450 --> 00:35:37,610 They probably didn't have cars, they probably didn't have Internet. 843 00:35:38,090 --> 00:35:41,090 But the truth is, is they had all the same things when it came 844 00:35:41,090 --> 00:35:41,770 to their culture. 845 00:35:41,770 --> 00:35:46,330 Whether it be sin or rebellion, it's because it's human 846 00:35:46,330 --> 00:35:46,690 nature. 847 00:35:46,690 --> 00:35:48,010 It's been from the very beginning. 848 00:35:48,330 --> 00:35:50,530 So the things that are taught in scripture are not about, like, 849 00:35:50,530 --> 00:35:53,130 well, you know what, in the, in Roman time, that made sense. 850 00:35:53,130 --> 00:35:56,330 Or, or in the time of the, the Jewish people there in Israel 2,000 851 00:35:56,330 --> 00:35:57,370 years ago, they made sense. 852 00:35:57,370 --> 00:35:59,050 No, it makes sense for us today. 853 00:35:59,050 --> 00:36:00,770 The principles are the same across the board. 854 00:36:00,770 --> 00:36:04,580 So when we get to the idea of marriage, what does Jesus say about 855 00:36:04,580 --> 00:36:05,060 marriage? 856 00:36:05,300 --> 00:36:06,260 The Bible tells us. 857 00:36:06,260 --> 00:36:07,660 What does the Bible say about marriage? 858 00:36:07,660 --> 00:36:08,340 Very clearly. 859 00:36:08,500 --> 00:36:10,820 And so when we get to this place here, what we have to understand 860 00:36:10,820 --> 00:36:15,020 is that when we abandon the truth of God, when we even allow 861 00:36:15,020 --> 00:36:18,420 any concession to compromising the word of God, that's when we get 862 00:36:18,420 --> 00:36:20,860 into a society that allows to get drifted. 863 00:36:20,860 --> 00:36:23,060 And now we see the silliness of, you know what? 864 00:36:23,060 --> 00:36:25,420 I was having a conversation with someone recently and they said 865 00:36:25,420 --> 00:36:26,100 that, you know what? 866 00:36:26,100 --> 00:36:29,650 20 years ago or 30 years ago, I would have never dreamed that we 867 00:36:29,650 --> 00:36:31,690 would be dealing with the things that we're dealing with today. 868 00:36:32,170 --> 00:36:34,090 Some of you could, could echo that. 869 00:36:34,570 --> 00:36:37,650 Some of you in this room that, that, you know, you were around for 870 00:36:37,650 --> 00:36:40,610 a long, long time, you would say back then it got mentioned, but 871 00:36:40,610 --> 00:36:43,210 this isn't, this isn't the America that I know. 872 00:36:43,210 --> 00:36:44,650 This isn't the culture that I know. 873 00:36:45,210 --> 00:36:46,250 Why is it that way? 874 00:36:46,730 --> 00:36:48,250 An abandonment of truth. 875 00:36:48,490 --> 00:36:49,810 An abandonment of truth. 876 00:36:49,810 --> 00:36:52,570 Now, let's look around the room this morning. 877 00:36:52,570 --> 00:36:53,010 Let's look. 878 00:36:53,010 --> 00:36:54,610 How many, how many young people do we have in the room? 879 00:36:54,610 --> 00:36:55,450 Got quite a few. 880 00:36:56,220 --> 00:37:01,820 Now, if there is not revival, if culture continues to abandon the 881 00:37:01,820 --> 00:37:06,180 truth of God, just imagine with me for a moment the things that 882 00:37:06,180 --> 00:37:09,220 our children and our grandchildren, for some of us, our 883 00:37:09,220 --> 00:37:13,340 great grandchildren are going to be dealing with in 20, 30, 40 884 00:37:13,340 --> 00:37:16,940 years if we don't get back to the word of God. 885 00:37:16,940 --> 00:37:20,060 Now, some people say this, and I understand this to a point. 886 00:37:20,620 --> 00:37:21,900 Pastor, we're the church. 887 00:37:22,750 --> 00:37:27,190 And what's going on the outside, we can't affect to some 888 00:37:27,190 --> 00:37:27,510 degree. 889 00:37:27,510 --> 00:37:29,790 I understand that thinking, because the truth is, is that an 890 00:37:29,790 --> 00:37:31,710 unsaved person is going to act like an unsaved person. 891 00:37:31,870 --> 00:37:34,990 But the Bible clearly says that Christians infiltrate their 892 00:37:34,990 --> 00:37:37,790 society, Christians change their society. 893 00:37:38,029 --> 00:37:40,710 In the Book of Acts, it said that that small group of men that 894 00:37:40,710 --> 00:37:42,030 follow Jesus, they. 895 00:37:42,510 --> 00:37:43,150 They what? 896 00:37:43,150 --> 00:37:44,990 They turn the world upside down. 897 00:37:45,790 --> 00:37:49,590 Now, if 11 guys and eventually 12 guys could change the world and, 898 00:37:49,590 --> 00:37:53,030 and turn the world upside down, how much could millions of 899 00:37:53,030 --> 00:37:55,830 Christians stand up for the cause of the gospel and see a great 900 00:37:55,830 --> 00:37:57,110 revival happen in our country? 901 00:37:57,510 --> 00:37:59,030 Now, the Bible does say this. 902 00:37:59,030 --> 00:38:02,030 The Bible does say that things will get worse and worse as the end 903 00:38:02,030 --> 00:38:04,470 times Begin to progress and to degress. 904 00:38:04,710 --> 00:38:07,430 But the truth is, is that we don't have to allow that to happen. 905 00:38:07,510 --> 00:38:10,790 And what happens sometimes in our culture today is that we allow 906 00:38:10,790 --> 00:38:16,330 the world, instead of the church impacting the world for the 907 00:38:16,330 --> 00:38:20,170 cause of the gospel, we allow the world to impact the church. 908 00:38:20,330 --> 00:38:22,690 And so that the church becomes more and more like the world than 909 00:38:22,690 --> 00:38:24,330 the world is becoming more like the church. 910 00:38:24,570 --> 00:38:27,210 And what we have to do as a Christian, we have to say this. 911 00:38:28,170 --> 00:38:31,370 Yes, we're fighting what we would consider an uphill battle with 912 00:38:31,370 --> 00:38:32,970 human odds, right? 913 00:38:33,050 --> 00:38:34,090 With human odds. 914 00:38:34,090 --> 00:38:36,370 We look out of the world today and we go, it doesn't make sense. 915 00:38:36,370 --> 00:38:37,530 How can we impact this? 916 00:38:37,690 --> 00:38:39,010 How can we change the laws? 917 00:38:39,010 --> 00:38:41,050 And I'm not saying that we have to get out and every one of 918 00:38:41,050 --> 00:38:42,920 you have to be a politician, okay? 919 00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:45,720 Because it doesn't matter what the politics will say, okay? 920 00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:50,680 Because back in Rome, by the way, did, did, did, did Emperor Nero 921 00:38:51,240 --> 00:38:53,480 like, support Paul with this? 922 00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:54,520 No. 923 00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:57,240 Did Emperor Nero ever change his mind? 924 00:38:57,480 --> 00:38:57,800 No. 925 00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:03,360 If you know history, Nero, the emperor in Paul's time, did not change 926 00:39:03,360 --> 00:39:05,160 his ways, actually got really bad. 927 00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:08,170 And eventually we know that Paul was martyred for his way. 928 00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:10,720 And Paul's just one example of this. 929 00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:12,560 So what I would say is this. 930 00:39:12,880 --> 00:39:14,720 Can Christians impact politics? 931 00:39:14,720 --> 00:39:15,040 Sure. 932 00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:18,800 But we don't rely on the politics to be the change in this 933 00:39:18,800 --> 00:39:19,120 world. 934 00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:20,400 We are the Christians. 935 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:21,240 We are the church. 936 00:39:21,240 --> 00:39:22,880 We progress, we profess. 937 00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:25,600 It's our job, no matter what the society is telling us. 938 00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:28,920 So let's say, for example, we celebrate the freedoms that we have 939 00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:29,680 as Americans. 940 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:30,560 Amen. 941 00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:32,720 I'm thankful for the freedoms that we have as Americans. 942 00:39:32,720 --> 00:39:33,000 And. 943 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:35,400 But sometimes we tie those freedoms that we have as Americans 944 00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:37,040 to the freedoms that we have as Christians. 945 00:39:37,900 --> 00:39:40,780 But let's say, for example, let's say God forbid this, but let's 946 00:39:40,780 --> 00:39:44,140 say in America, for whatever reason, our freedoms got taken away. 947 00:39:44,140 --> 00:39:45,660 And by the way, our freedoms aren't free. 948 00:39:45,660 --> 00:39:47,980 And if there's not sacrifice within our country, we know that 949 00:39:47,980 --> 00:39:49,340 those freedoms could be taken away. 950 00:39:49,580 --> 00:39:52,740 So let's say, for example, today, never want this to happen. 951 00:39:52,740 --> 00:39:56,820 But let's say America loses religious freedom, does that mean 952 00:39:56,820 --> 00:39:58,460 that we as Christians go, well, we're done? 953 00:39:58,700 --> 00:40:01,180 Or does that mean that we just press forward and say, hey, you know 954 00:40:01,180 --> 00:40:01,380 what? 955 00:40:01,380 --> 00:40:02,780 We're going to be like the early church. 956 00:40:03,020 --> 00:40:04,940 We're going to profess the word of God no matter what. 957 00:40:04,940 --> 00:40:07,460 And actually, what we see in the New Testament is that the more 958 00:40:07,460 --> 00:40:10,420 persecution that actually happened, the more spread of the 959 00:40:10,420 --> 00:40:11,580 gospel actually happen. 960 00:40:12,140 --> 00:40:15,180 And so sometimes it is good for us to lose our comfort so that 961 00:40:15,180 --> 00:40:16,940 we can get busy for the cause of the gospel. 962 00:40:16,940 --> 00:40:18,060 Now, why am I saying this? 963 00:40:18,060 --> 00:40:20,700 Because we all know the society that we live in. 964 00:40:21,580 --> 00:40:24,140 You live in a society that celebrates all of these sins. 965 00:40:24,860 --> 00:40:25,780 Celebrates it. 966 00:40:25,780 --> 00:40:26,780 Turn on your tv. 967 00:40:27,100 --> 00:40:27,420 Get. 968 00:40:27,420 --> 00:40:28,300 Get on Netflix. 969 00:40:28,610 --> 00:40:28,770 Get. 970 00:40:28,770 --> 00:40:29,450 Get on anything. 971 00:40:29,450 --> 00:40:30,290 Get on YouTube. 972 00:40:30,370 --> 00:40:30,690 You. 973 00:40:30,690 --> 00:40:33,970 You can't go five minutes without having these sins amplified 974 00:40:34,050 --> 00:40:34,850 in your face. 975 00:40:35,810 --> 00:40:36,170 This. 976 00:40:36,170 --> 00:40:38,530 This whole month, you're going to have it amplified in your face. 977 00:40:39,170 --> 00:40:41,330 And the truth is, is that we could sit here and go, well, that's 978 00:40:41,330 --> 00:40:41,850 just separate. 979 00:40:41,850 --> 00:40:42,690 That's not our thing. 980 00:40:42,770 --> 00:40:45,690 What we have to do is we have to say, how do we biblically think 981 00:40:45,690 --> 00:40:46,130 about this? 982 00:40:46,130 --> 00:40:47,690 How do we biblically deal with this? 983 00:40:47,690 --> 00:40:49,770 How do we share the truth of God to people around us? 984 00:40:49,770 --> 00:40:50,930 And we share it this way. 985 00:40:50,930 --> 00:40:52,050 It boils down to this. 986 00:40:52,130 --> 00:40:54,450 A society without Christ lives with these things. 987 00:40:54,450 --> 00:40:56,330 A society with Christ lives in. 988 00:40:56,330 --> 00:40:57,010 In faith. 989 00:40:57,010 --> 00:40:57,570 In faith. 990 00:40:57,570 --> 00:41:00,330 By the way, I'm not talking about cultural Christianity saying 991 00:41:00,330 --> 00:41:03,890 an individual that has faith in Jesus Christ is not characterized 992 00:41:03,890 --> 00:41:04,650 by these sins. 993 00:41:05,290 --> 00:41:08,970 Now, I'm not saying that an individual that has Jesus in his 994 00:41:08,970 --> 00:41:13,290 life, that has the Holy Spirit indwelling them, can't do these sins. 995 00:41:13,370 --> 00:41:16,490 What I'm saying is they are not characterized by these sins. 996 00:41:17,210 --> 00:41:19,210 So therefore, if we fall into sin, what do we do? 997 00:41:19,210 --> 00:41:21,730 Well, first John, chapter one, verse nine says, if we confess our 998 00:41:21,730 --> 00:41:24,790 sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse 999 00:41:24,790 --> 00:41:25,910 us from all unrighteousness. 1000 00:41:26,310 --> 00:41:28,630 But the beauty is, is that we have a walk with Jesus Christ. 1001 00:41:28,630 --> 00:41:31,150 And that conviction of the Spirit turns us back to the truth 1002 00:41:31,150 --> 00:41:31,590 of God. 1003 00:41:31,590 --> 00:41:34,070 And what we can see in contrast to that is these people 1004 00:41:34,070 --> 00:41:37,950 in Romans chapter one who are living without God have no conviction 1005 00:41:37,950 --> 00:41:40,470 because they've been turned over to their reprobate minds. 1006 00:41:40,470 --> 00:41:42,710 And so the place we do not want to be is the place where we're 1007 00:41:42,710 --> 00:41:44,390 not convicted over these sins anymore. 1008 00:41:45,590 --> 00:41:48,310 There's a word that maybe you've heard, it's called desensitized. 1009 00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:53,160 When our culture becomes desensitized to these sins, we cannot 1010 00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:54,360 be effective Christians. 1011 00:41:55,160 --> 00:41:58,200 I was reading a commentary recently, and some of you know who 1012 00:41:58,200 --> 00:41:59,240 Charles Spurgeon is. 1013 00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:02,120 You know Charles Spurgeon, Prince of Preachers. 1014 00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:04,759 I love Charles Spurgeon sermons. 1015 00:42:04,759 --> 00:42:06,360 I read a lot, enjoy his. 1016 00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:07,160 His writings. 1017 00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:10,040 Did you know that I was reading a commentary that said that 1018 00:42:10,040 --> 00:42:14,140 Charles Spurgeon would not even read Romans chapter one and 1019 00:42:14,210 --> 00:42:18,210 in mixed company in his church because he felt like it was too repulsive 1020 00:42:18,290 --> 00:42:20,610 and he would tell the People read this at home. 1021 00:42:20,850 --> 00:42:23,250 I'll tell you some of the principles, but this is just too, 1022 00:42:23,490 --> 00:42:25,170 too repulsive in our society. 1023 00:42:27,010 --> 00:42:27,810 How can that be? 1024 00:42:27,810 --> 00:42:28,050 We. 1025 00:42:28,050 --> 00:42:29,730 Well, come on, come on, Charles. 1026 00:42:29,810 --> 00:42:30,570 What's going on? 1027 00:42:30,570 --> 00:42:31,490 Why couldn't you read this? 1028 00:42:31,650 --> 00:42:31,930 Now? 1029 00:42:31,930 --> 00:42:33,930 We're able to read this today and not even cringe. 1030 00:42:33,930 --> 00:42:34,210 Why? 1031 00:42:34,210 --> 00:42:35,970 Because this is so common for us. 1032 00:42:36,610 --> 00:42:38,050 So, so what am I saying here? 1033 00:42:38,210 --> 00:42:42,400 Don't get desensitized to, to these sins here, because it's something 1034 00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:43,360 that's the norm. 1035 00:42:44,240 --> 00:42:46,320 We should still be repulsed by sin. 1036 00:42:46,960 --> 00:42:48,720 We should still look at it and go, no, I. 1037 00:42:48,720 --> 00:42:49,240 I don't. 1038 00:42:49,240 --> 00:42:50,640 I don't want that in my life. 1039 00:42:50,720 --> 00:42:54,960 I don't want my children to just grow up designed and aligned 1040 00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:56,240 to this way of thinking. 1041 00:42:57,040 --> 00:43:00,200 Folks there, whether you believe it or not, there's brainwashing 1042 00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:01,120 going on in this world. 1043 00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:02,240 Brainwashing. 1044 00:43:02,240 --> 00:43:02,560 Right. 1045 00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:03,920 We would all say that. 1046 00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:05,360 Propaganda. 1047 00:43:06,570 --> 00:43:08,370 What is the propaganda from the ways of this world? 1048 00:43:08,370 --> 00:43:10,930 The propaganda from the ways of this world is live this way, celebrate 1049 00:43:10,930 --> 00:43:14,250 this way, live in a rejection to God. 1050 00:43:15,690 --> 00:43:18,250 And some people say, well, Pastor Josh, you're just brainwashing 1051 00:43:18,250 --> 00:43:19,850 your children to the things of God. 1052 00:43:19,930 --> 00:43:20,650 You know what? 1053 00:43:20,970 --> 00:43:23,970 Unapologetically, I'm confessing this morning, yes, my 1054 00:43:23,970 --> 00:43:26,650 children's brain needs to be washed every single day, just like 1055 00:43:26,650 --> 00:43:26,930 mine. 1056 00:43:26,930 --> 00:43:27,450 Okay? 1057 00:43:27,450 --> 00:43:30,810 I need my brain washed in the goodness and the truth of Jesus Christ 1058 00:43:30,810 --> 00:43:32,170 and not the things of this world. 1059 00:43:32,170 --> 00:43:32,490 Why? 1060 00:43:32,690 --> 00:43:36,170 Because the enemy is trying to take our minds and take them to the 1061 00:43:36,170 --> 00:43:36,770 place of sin. 1062 00:43:36,770 --> 00:43:39,490 And what we need to do as Christians is we need to not just 1063 00:43:39,490 --> 00:43:40,930 our children, but our. 1064 00:43:40,930 --> 00:43:42,890 Our adults and our families alike. 1065 00:43:42,890 --> 00:43:45,850 We need to be thinking upon the things of God, dwelling upon 1066 00:43:45,850 --> 00:43:48,649 the things of God and saying, no, son, daughter, I know you're 1067 00:43:48,649 --> 00:43:49,570 going to hear this at school. 1068 00:43:49,970 --> 00:43:52,210 Some of you already have had kids that have come back and said, 1069 00:43:52,210 --> 00:43:53,490 mom, dad, what's this all about? 1070 00:43:53,970 --> 00:43:56,530 Some of you have been walking through the mall, and your children 1071 00:43:56,530 --> 00:43:58,450 have noticed something, and they've said, hey, what's. 1072 00:43:58,750 --> 00:43:59,270 What is that? 1073 00:43:59,270 --> 00:44:00,190 What is this thing? 1074 00:44:00,430 --> 00:44:02,550 And we can say, well, that's just the way everyone does things 1075 00:44:02,550 --> 00:44:02,910 these days. 1076 00:44:02,910 --> 00:44:05,710 Or we can say, hey, look, this is what the Bible says about this. 1077 00:44:05,870 --> 00:44:11,070 We love them, we don't hate them, we don't reject them in violence. 1078 00:44:11,070 --> 00:44:11,950 But what do we do? 1079 00:44:11,950 --> 00:44:14,950 We come to the truth of God and we say we love them, and we point 1080 00:44:14,950 --> 00:44:15,870 them to what we believe. 1081 00:44:15,870 --> 00:44:17,870 And, folks, if we truly believe it, we'll live it. 1082 00:44:17,870 --> 00:44:20,230 And if we live it, it will impact those around us. 1083 00:44:20,230 --> 00:44:22,430 And so Paul says, society without Jesus. 1084 00:44:23,150 --> 00:44:27,280 A life without Jesus will be turned over to the reprobate minds. 1085 00:44:28,240 --> 00:44:31,760 A society with Christ will be changed, will be renewed. 1086 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:34,240 We'll have hope, we'll have grace, we'll have love. 1087 00:44:34,240 --> 00:44:36,080 And all the opposites of these things. 1088 00:44:36,240 --> 00:44:38,880 What Satan does, again we've mentioned this, he twists things. 1089 00:44:38,880 --> 00:44:42,040 And so what we need to do is we need to make sure that our minds 1090 00:44:42,040 --> 00:44:45,520 are fixed on the things of God and not on the things of this earth. 1091 00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:49,480 So when we conclude here this morning in Romans Chapter one, we 1092 00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:52,440 see that Paul says, hey, look, it's the Gospel of Jesus Christ that 1093 00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:53,120 changes lives. 1094 00:44:54,230 --> 00:44:55,990 Without the gospel, this is the product. 1095 00:44:57,110 --> 00:45:01,510 Without the righteousness is unrighteousness, without the justification. 1096 00:45:01,830 --> 00:45:02,950 What is justification? 1097 00:45:04,070 --> 00:45:06,590 The declaration of our righteousness before God because 1098 00:45:06,590 --> 00:45:07,950 of what Jesus Christ did for us. 1099 00:45:07,950 --> 00:45:11,270 And our faith in him without justification is judgment. 1100 00:45:12,310 --> 00:45:15,110 And so we have unrighteousness, righteousness, judgment, 1101 00:45:15,270 --> 00:45:16,230 justification. 1102 00:45:16,870 --> 00:45:19,430 And I don't know about you, but where I want to be is I want 1103 00:45:19,430 --> 00:45:20,790 to be on the side of justification. 1104 00:45:21,710 --> 00:45:23,390 I want to be on the side of righteousness. 1105 00:45:23,710 --> 00:45:25,230 I want to be on the side of Christ. 1106 00:45:25,790 --> 00:45:29,630 Because I've read the rest of the book, some of you have too. 1107 00:45:30,350 --> 00:45:31,630 Jesus is the victor. 1108 00:45:32,190 --> 00:45:33,310 Victory in Jesus. 1109 00:45:33,870 --> 00:45:34,470 You know what? 1110 00:45:34,470 --> 00:45:35,550 I want to be on that side. 1111 00:45:35,550 --> 00:45:39,430 I want to be, as Romans 8 says, more than conquerors in Jesus 1112 00:45:39,430 --> 00:45:41,950 Christ, folks, we are not defeated. 1113 00:45:42,190 --> 00:45:47,680 Sometimes we are living like a defeated Christian, but we have a 1114 00:45:47,680 --> 00:45:50,280 foe, the enemy, Satan, who is defeated. 1115 00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:53,800 And so the Bible says that we don't need to be living undefeated, 1116 00:45:54,920 --> 00:45:55,320 okay? 1117 00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:56,360 Because the truth is this. 1118 00:45:57,560 --> 00:45:59,560 You're not going to win every battle on this planet. 1119 00:45:59,560 --> 00:46:00,680 This is the reality of things. 1120 00:46:00,680 --> 00:46:01,640 We're, We're. 1121 00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:04,200 You're going to go through your ups and downs. 1122 00:46:05,320 --> 00:46:07,760 Some of us can say, pastor, you know, you don't know me before 1123 00:46:07,760 --> 00:46:11,480 my, my Christian years, my BC years, My BC years were pretty rough, 1124 00:46:12,210 --> 00:46:13,330 Okay, I get that. 1125 00:46:13,810 --> 00:46:17,050 But the truth is, is that all of us, though we might not win every 1126 00:46:17,050 --> 00:46:20,450 little battle along the way, the war is won in Jesus Christ. 1127 00:46:20,690 --> 00:46:23,850 And so this morning, when we look at Romans Chapter one, that's 1128 00:46:23,850 --> 00:46:26,170 not saying, hey, this is the way things are. 1129 00:46:26,170 --> 00:46:33,090 Just adhere to that, be in that, address it, accept it, approve, 1130 00:46:33,810 --> 00:46:34,610 proclaim it. 1131 00:46:34,610 --> 00:46:38,210 No, what he's saying is this, this is life without Christ. 1132 00:46:39,290 --> 00:46:40,890 All the more reason why you need Christ. 1133 00:46:41,130 --> 00:46:43,450 All the more reason why you need to proclaim Christ and win people 1134 00:46:43,450 --> 00:46:44,570 to the cause of the gospel. 1135 00:46:44,650 --> 00:46:48,010 It started with, for I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. 1136 00:46:49,210 --> 00:46:52,610 And so sometimes these things that we're facing in our life allow 1137 00:46:52,610 --> 00:46:55,410 us to get to that place of fear and shame that we don't want 1138 00:46:55,410 --> 00:46:58,890 to proclaim this, but we as Christians have to say this. 1139 00:47:00,170 --> 00:47:01,250 We have the truth of God. 1140 00:47:01,250 --> 00:47:05,140 If you don't believe that this is the truth of God, then what is 1141 00:47:05,140 --> 00:47:05,620 truth? 1142 00:47:05,940 --> 00:47:09,580 Well, we live in a society today that says truth is what you 1143 00:47:09,580 --> 00:47:10,260 want it to be. 1144 00:47:11,220 --> 00:47:16,260 But if my truth and your truth contradict, what happens? 1145 00:47:16,980 --> 00:47:19,540 Let's say I bring someone up here this morning and I said, hey, 1146 00:47:19,540 --> 00:47:20,940 you know, this is my truth. 1147 00:47:20,940 --> 00:47:21,780 This is his truth. 1148 00:47:21,780 --> 00:47:22,980 Totally two different things. 1149 00:47:23,620 --> 00:47:24,420 What's true? 1150 00:47:25,460 --> 00:47:29,020 Well, it's more true if I'm louder than him sometimes. 1151 00:47:29,020 --> 00:47:29,940 That's how we look at it. 1152 00:47:30,500 --> 00:47:33,780 My, my truth is more truth because I'm stronger than him. 1153 00:47:34,580 --> 00:47:36,980 I can just cover his mouth. 1154 00:47:38,260 --> 00:47:41,340 We must believe, just logically speaking, we must believe 1155 00:47:41,340 --> 00:47:45,500 that if there is truth, there must be one truth and the one truth. 1156 00:47:45,500 --> 00:47:48,380 If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you must believe that the 1157 00:47:48,380 --> 00:47:52,300 one truth is found in the word of God, and the word of God is the 1158 00:47:52,300 --> 00:47:55,500 truth and ultimately summarized in Jesus Christ. 1159 00:47:55,500 --> 00:47:58,590 Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the light. 1160 00:47:58,990 --> 00:48:00,990 No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 1161 00:48:01,870 --> 00:48:04,830 And so for us to say, you know what, they can do their thing, we're 1162 00:48:04,830 --> 00:48:05,630 going to do our thing. 1163 00:48:05,950 --> 00:48:09,310 Christianity is just our way of doing things, but their way of 1164 00:48:09,310 --> 00:48:10,750 doing things could be just as valid. 1165 00:48:10,750 --> 00:48:12,030 What we have to say is this. 1166 00:48:12,190 --> 00:48:15,390 If I'm going to be consistent with what I believe about Christ, 1167 00:48:15,710 --> 00:48:18,790 if I'm going to be consistent about following him, what did Jesus 1168 00:48:18,790 --> 00:48:18,950 say? 1169 00:48:18,950 --> 00:48:20,510 Jesus didn't say there was many ways. 1170 00:48:21,390 --> 00:48:25,390 If I believe Jesus and I believe that he is God, and I believe 1171 00:48:25,390 --> 00:48:28,150 that he is truthful, I believe Jesus never sinned. 1172 00:48:28,230 --> 00:48:30,070 Then we have to adhere to what Jesus taught. 1173 00:48:30,070 --> 00:48:31,110 And what did Jesus teach? 1174 00:48:31,270 --> 00:48:32,270 Oh, there's many ways. 1175 00:48:32,270 --> 00:48:33,670 No, Jesus said there's one way. 1176 00:48:33,910 --> 00:48:38,070 So therefore, if I believe everything about Jesus, Jesus is 1177 00:48:38,070 --> 00:48:41,270 either a liar, right? 1178 00:48:41,270 --> 00:48:42,630 Because he says, hey, there's one way. 1179 00:48:44,470 --> 00:48:47,190 But if he's not right, then he's a liar and that means he sinned. 1180 00:48:47,510 --> 00:48:49,430 Or Jesus might just be delusional, right? 1181 00:48:49,430 --> 00:48:51,350 Some people say, well, Jesus thought he was the Messiah. 1182 00:48:51,610 --> 00:48:54,930 So either Jesus is lying to us, he's delusional, or he is the 1183 00:48:54,930 --> 00:48:58,610 Son of God, he is the truth of God, he is everything, and we must 1184 00:48:58,610 --> 00:48:59,370 trust in him. 1185 00:48:59,770 --> 00:49:01,690 And so Jesus's way is the only way. 1186 00:49:01,930 --> 00:49:05,210 And Jesus way says, hey, these are the sins that we don't want to 1187 00:49:05,210 --> 00:49:11,210 be characterized as Christians by, and ultimately our society Though 1188 00:49:12,090 --> 00:49:19,380 broken, though mismistaken, though though evil and dirty and 1189 00:49:19,380 --> 00:49:23,380 rotten, can be impacted for the cause of the gospel. 1190 00:49:23,460 --> 00:49:28,460 Some of you might be saying this, Pastor, without Jesus, I would 1191 00:49:28,460 --> 00:49:29,380 be on that path. 1192 00:49:30,660 --> 00:49:33,060 Without Jesus, I was characterized by those sins. 1193 00:49:33,700 --> 00:49:38,260 Without Jesus, I was on my way to what Romans 1 said was judgment, 1194 00:49:38,740 --> 00:49:40,260 death and separation. 1195 00:49:40,980 --> 00:49:47,950 But because of Jesus, because of God, who is rich in mercy, he 1196 00:49:48,110 --> 00:49:51,950 extended that gift of grace and trusted that gift of grace. 1197 00:49:52,430 --> 00:49:55,670 Because of that gift of grace this morning, I know I'm not characterized 1198 00:49:55,670 --> 00:49:57,030 by those list of sins there. 1199 00:49:57,030 --> 00:49:58,030 Romans, chapter one. 1200 00:49:58,670 --> 00:50:01,990 I'm characterized by the truth of Jesus Christ and my salvation 1201 00:50:01,990 --> 00:50:02,510 for him. 1202 00:50:03,070 --> 00:50:03,950 That's awesome. 1203 00:50:04,190 --> 00:50:05,030 That's amazing. 1204 00:50:05,030 --> 00:50:06,990 That's why we do what we do. 1205 00:50:08,200 --> 00:50:09,440 That's why we wake up every day. 1206 00:50:09,440 --> 00:50:11,000 Because there's hope in Jesus Christ. 1207 00:50:11,000 --> 00:50:12,520 There's victory in Jesus Christ. 1208 00:50:12,760 --> 00:50:15,160 But last challenge here today is this. 1209 00:50:15,960 --> 00:50:21,160 If we as a church have that truth, if we as a church have that 1210 00:50:21,160 --> 00:50:25,880 amazing truth of the gospel in our midst, and we are living by that, 1211 00:50:27,640 --> 00:50:31,640 Never, never should we concede to the world that, hey, you know 1212 00:50:31,640 --> 00:50:31,760 what? 1213 00:50:31,760 --> 00:50:33,560 They're going to define what we do within the church. 1214 00:50:33,820 --> 00:50:35,180 Lot of churches have done that over the years. 1215 00:50:35,820 --> 00:50:38,620 A lot of churches have said because of culture, we need to adapt 1216 00:50:38,940 --> 00:50:42,460 and we need to allow and we need to move to a place that's more 1217 00:50:42,460 --> 00:50:43,900 palatable for our society. 1218 00:50:44,060 --> 00:50:47,260 And what happens is, is that the truth gets degraded from the 1219 00:50:47,260 --> 00:50:49,740 inside out, and then there is no more truth. 1220 00:50:50,060 --> 00:50:52,300 And we see weakness in the cause of the gospel. 1221 00:50:52,380 --> 00:50:55,100 But we as a church must stand upon the truth of God. 1222 00:50:55,260 --> 00:50:56,980 It's not about being a Baptist. 1223 00:50:56,980 --> 00:50:59,660 It's not about being any denomination. 1224 00:50:59,740 --> 00:51:03,910 It's about being a biblical Christian, following in faith in 1225 00:51:03,910 --> 00:51:04,590 Jesus Christ. 1226 00:51:05,390 --> 00:51:06,510 May we stand bold. 1227 00:51:06,830 --> 00:51:07,750 May we stand bold. 1228 00:51:07,750 --> 00:51:10,230 My prayer is that we understand the battle that's against 1229 00:51:10,230 --> 00:51:10,590 us. 1230 00:51:11,150 --> 00:51:15,110 We have a society that's trying to tear down, tear down the 1231 00:51:15,110 --> 00:51:15,870 biblical church. 1232 00:51:16,109 --> 00:51:18,630 You might not understand that because why we're trying to go from 1233 00:51:18,630 --> 00:51:19,390 the inside out. 1234 00:51:21,070 --> 00:51:23,310 Some societies have tried to just tear down the church from the 1235 00:51:23,310 --> 00:51:26,190 outside, burn the Bibles, persecute from the outside. 1236 00:51:27,100 --> 00:51:27,820 And you know what? 1237 00:51:28,540 --> 00:51:29,420 There's other tactics. 1238 00:51:29,420 --> 00:51:30,900 So the enemy uses other tactics. 1239 00:51:30,900 --> 00:51:33,580 And what he tries to do in many cases is he tries to come in 1240 00:51:33,580 --> 00:51:36,460 and the Bible actually talks about this wolves and sheep's clothing 1241 00:51:36,460 --> 00:51:39,620 coming in and infiltrating the church and coming in the middle of 1242 00:51:39,620 --> 00:51:42,300 it and then eventually eroding it from the inside out. 1243 00:51:43,260 --> 00:51:44,940 May we be on guard for that. 1244 00:51:46,380 --> 00:51:50,860 No one's life's perfect, but There's a standard of truth, and 1245 00:51:50,860 --> 00:51:54,010 that's what we're all striving for, is understanding God, understanding 1246 00:51:54,010 --> 00:51:55,450 Jesus through his Word. 1247 00:51:55,450 --> 00:51:57,330 So this morning, I encourage you to think about that. 1248 00:51:57,330 --> 00:52:03,770 It's not an easy passage to go through, because our society, and 1249 00:52:03,770 --> 00:52:06,170 in many cases, maybe some people in the room have said, you 1250 00:52:06,170 --> 00:52:06,410 know what? 1251 00:52:06,410 --> 00:52:08,489 I, I, I feel offensed by that. 1252 00:52:08,489 --> 00:52:12,810 Folks, I love you, and I don't ever want to offend you, but sometimes 1253 00:52:12,810 --> 00:52:14,770 the truth is, is that the truth does offend. 1254 00:52:15,170 --> 00:52:16,370 The truth does hurt. 1255 00:52:17,570 --> 00:52:20,740 You know, know, recently I had an opportunity to, to go with some 1256 00:52:20,740 --> 00:52:23,940 folks and, you know, what's the word for it? 1257 00:52:23,940 --> 00:52:24,780 Inspect your life. 1258 00:52:25,100 --> 00:52:26,380 Have a time of evaluation. 1259 00:52:26,940 --> 00:52:29,500 Anytime you evaluate yourself, you want everyone to say, like, good 1260 00:52:29,500 --> 00:52:30,140 things about you. 1261 00:52:30,460 --> 00:52:32,820 But what happens when you evaluate yourself and you start realizing, 1262 00:52:32,820 --> 00:52:34,900 hey, there's some, there's some inadequacies in my life. 1263 00:52:34,900 --> 00:52:36,140 Well, no one wants to hear that. 1264 00:52:36,140 --> 00:52:38,700 And someone might be telling me the truth and saying, pastor Josh, 1265 00:52:38,700 --> 00:52:41,780 we love you, but here's an area that you might need to work 1266 00:52:41,780 --> 00:52:42,140 on. 1267 00:52:42,220 --> 00:52:43,660 What, what would I need to do with that? 1268 00:52:43,660 --> 00:52:44,340 I don't want to hear that. 1269 00:52:44,340 --> 00:52:44,940 No, no, no. 1270 00:52:45,220 --> 00:52:48,580 Because that truth that might be a truth has offended me. 1271 00:52:48,580 --> 00:52:49,700 But is it still truth? 1272 00:52:50,100 --> 00:52:51,700 Yeah, it's still true. 1273 00:52:51,860 --> 00:52:54,900 And so we as a church must proclaim the truth of God in love. 1274 00:52:55,860 --> 00:52:58,500 And even if it doesn't, we don't want to offend by our sin. 1275 00:52:58,580 --> 00:53:00,540 But if we offend by the truth, that's okay. 1276 00:53:00,540 --> 00:53:01,540 God will sort that out. 1277 00:53:01,860 --> 00:53:04,140 So here this morning, I want us to think about how we as a church 1278 00:53:04,140 --> 00:53:07,980 can stand firmly upon the truth of God, can stand firmly upon 1279 00:53:07,980 --> 00:53:11,930 the wisdom of not man, but the Lord and, and take these things into 1280 00:53:11,930 --> 00:53:13,690 our society and proclaim them to the world. 1281 00:53:14,170 --> 00:53:18,730 So this morning, children, adults, teens, whatever age you're 1282 00:53:18,730 --> 00:53:22,130 at, whatever spectrum you're on when it comes to your understanding 1283 00:53:22,130 --> 00:53:24,370 of the things of this world and the things of God, just know 1284 00:53:24,370 --> 00:53:26,010 if I can leave you with anything. 1285 00:53:26,330 --> 00:53:27,610 This is the word of God. 1286 00:53:27,610 --> 00:53:29,930 Define everything by this. 1287 00:53:30,490 --> 00:53:31,690 What does the Bible say? 1288 00:53:32,170 --> 00:53:33,050 Not what I feel. 1289 00:53:33,770 --> 00:53:36,730 Not what someone tells me, not what someone tries to convince me 1290 00:53:36,730 --> 00:53:37,330 of in this world. 1291 00:53:37,330 --> 00:53:38,090 Because you know what? 1292 00:53:38,320 --> 00:53:41,360 Those people that are showing you those videos and movies and, 1293 00:53:41,680 --> 00:53:44,480 and selling you things online, all they want is your dollar. 1294 00:53:44,960 --> 00:53:47,600 All they want is your eyes to watch and be another viewer. 1295 00:53:47,840 --> 00:53:49,880 Folks, God doesn't just want your money. 1296 00:53:49,880 --> 00:53:50,800 God wants your heart. 1297 00:53:51,120 --> 00:53:52,680 God's concerned about your soul. 1298 00:53:52,680 --> 00:53:54,480 God's concerned about your eternal destination. 1299 00:53:54,960 --> 00:53:56,200 That's the one you want to trust. 1300 00:53:56,200 --> 00:53:57,360 That's the one you want to believe in. 1301 00:53:57,360 --> 00:53:59,880 That's the one who is only, only one who's trustworthy. 1302 00:53:59,880 --> 00:54:02,320 So this morning, if everyone could stand with me, every head bowed, 1303 00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:04,660 every eye closed as the music plays this morning, we're just going 1304 00:54:04,660 --> 00:54:05,940 to have an opportunity to respond. 1305 00:54:06,340 --> 00:54:09,420 Not, not a long invitation this morning, but what I do want 1306 00:54:09,420 --> 00:54:10,260 to tell you is this. 1307 00:54:10,500 --> 00:54:13,060 Number one, have you trusted in Jesus Christ as your personal 1308 00:54:13,060 --> 00:54:13,620 savior? 1309 00:54:14,180 --> 00:54:15,460 Are you in those B.C. 1310 00:54:15,460 --> 00:54:18,820 years, are you in those after salvation years? 1311 00:54:19,300 --> 00:54:21,900 If you haven't come to Jesus Christ as your personal savior this 1312 00:54:21,900 --> 00:54:25,340 morning, the Bible says that it is for by grace are we saved. 1313 00:54:25,340 --> 00:54:28,660 God's grace that we are saved through faith and that not of ourselves. 1314 00:54:28,740 --> 00:54:31,860 It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. 1315 00:54:32,140 --> 00:54:33,780 So the Bible says this morning, it's not about working your 1316 00:54:33,780 --> 00:54:36,180 way, it's not about earning your way, it's about coming to him 1317 00:54:36,180 --> 00:54:36,540 in faith. 1318 00:54:36,540 --> 00:54:40,140 And so folks, stop trying and start believing in Jesus Christ. 1319 00:54:40,140 --> 00:54:43,620 If you need that this morning, come forward, trust in Jesus as your 1320 00:54:43,620 --> 00:54:44,060 savior. 1321 00:54:44,460 --> 00:54:47,500 But number two, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ this morning, 1322 00:54:48,380 --> 00:54:52,940 but you have been struggling with these ideas of culture and boldness 1323 00:54:53,100 --> 00:54:56,380 and not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, hey, you 1324 00:54:56,380 --> 00:54:56,660 know what? 1325 00:54:56,660 --> 00:54:58,820 This morning, come forward, commit yourself to the Lord, say, 1326 00:54:58,820 --> 00:55:02,420 lord, I know what your word says and I want to live by that. 1327 00:55:02,420 --> 00:55:04,300 Maybe you just want to come forward this morning and pray for 1328 00:55:04,300 --> 00:55:04,740 your children. 1329 00:55:04,980 --> 00:55:09,180 In this world of brokenness, in this world of deceit, in this 1330 00:55:09,180 --> 00:55:12,100 world of darkness, maybe you just want to pray for your children 1331 00:55:12,100 --> 00:55:15,220 and say, lord, protect my children, protect my grandchildren, 1332 00:55:15,540 --> 00:55:18,140 allow them to have the same values that I have in accordance 1333 00:55:18,140 --> 00:55:21,220 to the word of God, help no one to come in and try to steal away 1334 00:55:21,220 --> 00:55:25,640 their joy, steal away their love for God, steal away their, their 1335 00:55:25,640 --> 00:55:26,240 innocence. 1336 00:55:26,720 --> 00:55:27,720 Now you say innocence. 1337 00:55:27,720 --> 00:55:28,960 I thought none of us were innocent. 1338 00:55:28,960 --> 00:55:29,360 True. 1339 00:55:29,360 --> 00:55:32,640 But the truth is, is that many times the world is trying to offend 1340 00:55:32,800 --> 00:55:34,880 children a lot earlier than they should be. 1341 00:55:35,040 --> 00:55:37,560 Some of us are going to go through brokenness in our life, but 1342 00:55:37,560 --> 00:55:39,480 really there are children in this world that are going through 1343 00:55:39,480 --> 00:55:42,000 brokenness way too early because the world is exposing sin 1344 00:55:42,000 --> 00:55:42,800 and evil to them. 1345 00:55:43,120 --> 00:55:45,680 And so what we need to do is pray for our children, not that they'll 1346 00:55:45,680 --> 00:55:48,120 never go through hardships, but that they can keep their eyes 1347 00:55:48,120 --> 00:55:51,000 fixed on the word of God in the midst of those difficulty needs. 1348 00:55:51,000 --> 00:55:54,320 And we as adults can lead them in the truth by what we say and by 1349 00:55:54,320 --> 00:55:54,800 what we do. 1350 00:55:54,800 --> 00:55:56,960 And so if you want to come forward this morning and just pray 1351 00:55:56,960 --> 00:56:00,080 for your children, pray for your spouse, pray for yourself, pray 1352 00:56:00,080 --> 00:56:01,680 for all of those issues in life. 1353 00:56:01,680 --> 00:56:02,640 Hey, come forward this morning. 1354 00:56:02,640 --> 00:56:03,880 You have the opportunity to do so. 1355 00:56:03,880 --> 00:56:06,520 Lord, I pray that you be in this time of invitation working hearts 1356 00:56:06,520 --> 00:56:06,800 and lives. 1357 00:56:06,800 --> 00:56:09,640 Give us the opportunity to see the truth of God in our lives. 1358 00:56:10,120 --> 00:56:12,360 Help us to proclaim those truths of God in our life and help 1359 00:56:12,360 --> 00:56:15,440 us to live that clarity and that that truth and confidence in 1360 00:56:15,440 --> 00:56:15,640 you. 1361 00:56:15,640 --> 00:56:18,280 Lord, I pray that you'd be in this high invitation in Jesus name. 1362 00:56:18,280 --> 00:56:18,490 Amen. 1363 00:56:18,560 --> 00:56:18,760 Amen. 1364 00:56:18,760 --> 00:56:19,520 Some have already come. 1365 00:56:19,520 --> 00:56:20,960 Follow as the Lord leads here this morning. 1366 00:57:53,150 --> 00:57:55,590 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1367 00:57:55,590 --> 00:57:56,190 podcast. 1368 00:57:56,430 --> 00:57:58,830 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1369 00:57:59,550 --> 00:58:00,730 You would like to find out more. 1370 00:58:00,960 --> 00:58:03,240 Information about our church or this sermon, you can find us at 1371 00:58:03,240 --> 00:58:08,080 middletownbaptistchurch.org or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1372 00:58:08,800 --> 00:58:13,760 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro, middletownbaptistChurch.com 1373 00:58:14,240 --> 00:58:17,720 if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 1374 00:58:17,720 --> 00:58:20,480 along for future podcast and updates. 1375 00:58:21,200 --> 00:58:22,160 Thank you so much. 1376 00:58:22,320 --> 00:58:23,120 God bless. 1377 00:58:23,360 --> 00:58:24,640 Have a wonderful day.